Someone I Use to Know
by tbrock623
Summary: Vincent feelings for Catherine takes a whole new direction after the horrible car accident. He tries purses her, but an old flame from his past sees him at the hospital and wants to reconnect. Vincent on the other hand doesn't want to and then there's consequences. Base on episode 1x10 "Seeing Red"
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

Author's Note: My take on season 1 episode 'Seeing Red' there was some scenes I had issues with. So I've changed it around a little and added a few scenes myself.

Summary:

Vincent feelings for Catherine takes a whole new direction after the horrible car accident. He tries purses her, but an old flame from his past sees him at the hospital and wants to reconnect. Him on the other hand doesn't want to and then there's consequences.

(Chapter 1)

Even if it was still daylight out Vincent knew he was taking a big chance on being here at the hospital. That he shouldn't be here, but he needed to check on Catherine. Her safety and well being was more important than him getting exposed right now. Vincent thought of how hard it was for him to transformed back to himself after coming home last night. He miss Catherine's touch, the way she would caress his cheek while talking to him. If he wasn't such a jackass and left her at her father's wedding she wouldn't be here. She would be at her place or at work. Safe and alive.

He never felt so helpless like he did last night pulling her almost lifeless body out of that wrecked car and holding her close to him. It wasn't that long ago that they were dancing that close together. Holding her, feeling her small beautiful frame close to him, smelling her sweet jasmine scent and hearing her heartbeat. He was tempted to kiss her, and tell her how he felt about her. By that time the dance was over and she dragged his ass outside to avoid him being seen. He would have told her how he felt outside in the gazebo, but that didn't go as planned. Thanks to her bringing up the conversation about his DNA changing and him taking a risk being there. Like he was taking being here.

As he waited for the right time to visit her, he saw Catherine's sister Heather leave one of the rooms to head home. Vincent was lucky enough to find a storage supply room unlocked with a lab coat and a surgeon's mask inside. So he could quickly put it on over top his jacket and then the mask to add to his doctor persona. He also quickly grabbed the charts from the nurses station, then waited a couple of minutes before heading out towards Catherine's room. He made sure nobody saw him as he entered her hospital room. He heard her just getting off the phone with her partner Tess and step inside drawing the curtains around them so no one could see them.

"Vincent." Catherine greeted him with a smile as she watched him enter the room and pull the mask from his face. She was happy to see him, but with all the stuff going on, he needed to be careful. "What if someone sees you?"

"Playing doctor is kinda my thing." He smirked as he approached. "Besides, I, uh..." Vincent sat down on the side of the hospital bed. "I needed to see you." He had to see, he needed to after almost losing her. If only he had answered his damn phone, nothing would have happened to her.

"Thank you. My nurse told me about that procedure you did." Catherine smiled at him again.

"Yeah, uh, about that..." Vincent started to say, but she cut him off.

"The amazing roadside save." Catherine interrupted him with another smile.

"Catherine, uh..." Vincent tried again - she needed to know the truth. He wished it could have been him that performed the procedure and not the other guy.

"Vincent, I'm alive because of you."

"It wasn't me. It was, uh, it was Evan, actually. I, uh, I just ripped the car door off, I got you out, and, I wanted to stay, uh, to help. But, I just..." Vincent paused as he stumbled over his words. For a second he tried to gather his emotions from that horrible night. "I couldn't, you know, get back to... being me. And, uh, Evan pulled up, so I had to make a choice. He was your best option." He told her.

"You still saved my life." Catherine gave him a grateful look. "If you hadn't got me out of that car, Evan never would have gotten to me in time." Catherine explained.

"Well, if he hadn't shown up though, then what?" Vincent pressed his lips together. He didn't want to think about that right now. "Sure, I can pull a car door off, but you needed a doctor and... I couldn't help you, you know." His voice saddened and he paused again.

"Vincent..."

"In that moment, all I could do was... watch you slip away." Vincent voice was thick with emotion as he took her small hand in his and held it. He was trying to fight back the tears. "You know, I thought that I lost you." He continued as he started to caress her small hand in his, running his thumb over the back of her hand. He didn't know what he would have done if something had happened to her. He probably would have blamed himself for leaving her at her father's wedding.

"You didn't lose me." Catherine gave him a reassuring smile as she squeezed his hand. "I'm right here." She smiles at him before looking down at their hands. "And... I accept all of what you are. That's what I was coming to tell you. Even though your DNA is changing, that doesn't have to change things between us." She told him.

"You know you say that now, but just wait until I sprout whiskers and a tail." Vincent joked, trying to lighten the mood and make her feel better.

"Very funny." Catherine laughed at his sense of humor.

"Uh..If... I didn't leave you at your father's wedding alone nothing would have happened to you." Vincent voice was sad with guilt as his head was down while talking to her and his eyes were moist. He continued to run his thumb across her knuckles. He enjoy the physical contact, her soft warm skin against his rough hands.

"Vincent..." Catherine wanted to tell him. "It's over now, stop blaming yourself. I'm alive, thanks to you." Catherine grasped his hand again and they looked at each other for a moment letting their gaze linger. Her phone beeped with an incoming text. It was Evan, letting her know he was on his way.

"Um..." Vincent was about to say, but when he glanced at the florescent light that hung over top her hospital bed. He had to squeeze his eyes shut for a second as his eyes started hurting for some reason and his vision was turning to a reddish color.

"It's Evan. He's on his way up." Catherine told him sadly as she looked up from her phone. She wished Vincent could stay longer. But knowing the circumstances he couldn't.

"You know if I could stay, I would." Vincent told her as he slid off the side of the hospital bed and stood. He leaned over the bed and kissed the top of her forehead, before letting go of her hand.

"I know you would." Catherine smiled at him as he was about to leave.

"Uh..." Vincent turned to leave, but remembered he had to let her know about the chance that Evan may have seen him at the car accident. "You should probably know that Evan might have seen me on the road last night."

"Okay. Bye." She whispered to him.

"Bye." Vincent whispered back before pulling up his surgeons mask to cover half his face and left her room. As he walked along one of the wing sections of the hospital towards the stairs heading down, he spotted Evan walking past with a bouquet of flowers in hand. He sighed silently, he knew Catherine didn't have any feelings for the guy, but he couldn't shake this feeling he had. That Evan was trying to win her over for his own selfish needs. Evan had to know that she wasn't interested in him, surely.

Vincent was now glad to have her in his life, even though at first he didn't want be around her. Mainly, because of Muirfield hunting him and the way she kept pestering him about her mother's death and involvement. He'd grown to understand why she kept asking, because besides being a cop she needed peace. And then her ability to help calm him when he wasn't himself. It drew him closer towards her like a magnet. Like she wasn't afraid of him when he wasn't himself.

He was so relieved to know that Catherine was okay and alive. He needed to tell her how he felt about her the next time he saw her or there might not be a next time. He should have followed JT's advice from earlier. He should have told her how he felt about her, but with all the blackout issues he was afraid. He was so distracted thinking about Catherine that he pulled his mask down relieving his face as he made his way down the hospital steps. He then heard a voice, calling his name. "Vincent! Vincent! Vincent Keller!"

Vincent then saw her and he stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the stairs what the hell was she doing here? He had to hide before she could figure out that if it was really him or not. Of all the people to show up here it had to be her, his ex-fiancée Alex Salter. He quickly made his way down the steps and hide behind one of the pillars breathing heavy. He closed his eyes trying to calm his breathing. His heart was pounding against his rib cage like it was going to explode. He had to get his ass out of there before someone else sees him. He took a deep breath and pulled the mask back over his face before peeking around the pillar. He was relieved to notice Alex had disappeared.

* * *

"Cocky grin, bit of a swagger, flowers... Someone's feeling good about themselves." Catherine watched as Evan entered her hospital room carrying a bouquet of flowers smiling ridiculously at her.

"Just thinking about how much you owe me for saving your life." He said.

"Didn't I just save your life? Wasn't that you a couple weeks ago... psycho subway killer?" Catherine joked as she remembered it was actually Vincent that saved him, but Evan didn't need to know that part.

"Yeah, the statute of limitations on that expired days ago." Evan retorted back.

"Did it? Thank you." She replied.

"I couldn't lose you." Evan told her. He still had them same feelings he did when he kissed her in the photo booth on her birthday.

"You know, if I could make six figures a year doing that, I would not be in a basement cutting open dead people." Catherine joked again as she was trying to get her mind off the pain in her shoulder. "And, the way that you pulled me out of Heather's car..."

"Pulled you out?" Evan raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a questioning look. It must be the medicine that has her thinking like that. He assumed whatever creature that had her in its arms must of have pulled her out. "No, I just bravely slammed on the brakes, so I didn't flatten you."

"So, I was... already on the roadway when you found me?" Catherine then realized that it must have been difficult for Vincent taking her out of the wrecked car and placed her on the ground in his other state. Not to be able to do anything to save her.

"Yeah, you must have crawled out before you lost consciousness." Evan assumed and then added. "You did lose a hell of a lot of blood."

"So, I guess I'm a living, breathing miracle." Catherine gave a half smile.

"You are to me." Evan said seriously as he wanted to tell her about the creature he saw cradling her in its arms, but pushed it aside for now. He wasn't about to cloud her with another problem right now, she needed to recover first.

Catherine seen the sincerity on his face, apparently it was hard for him to watch his coworker half dying before his eyes. She knew Evan had feelings for her, but the feeling wasn't mutual. As she was about to reply, the nurse that had come by earlier, reappeared and she seemed nervous as she entered the room.

"Could I...?" The nurse started to interrupt.

"Yeah, of course, um, do you thing." Evan politely excused himself as he didn't want to interfere with nurse duties. "Uh, I'll check back with you later." He said while heading out the room.

"Okay. Uh, it's not something wrong with my X-ray, is it?" Catherine asked with concern in her voice. She watched as the nurse kept flexing her fingers, curling and uncurling them. She had never seen a nurse so broken apart about a patient before. Unless it was something serious.

"Oh, no. No, no. Everything's... everything's fine with you." Alex voice sounded nervous as she began pacing. "Um, weird question: The doctor that came here earlier, do you know him?"

"I don't know which doctor you're talking about."

"He's tall, um, he was wearing a lab coat, had a scar on his face." Alex tried to explain as she ran her finger down the right side of her face to indicate the scar. "Another nurse saw him walk out of your room."

"Uh, yeah, a doctor did come in here to check my chart. I didn't recognize him though." Catherine lied. She didn't like were this was going, how could Vincent be so careless to get himself caught. "Why?"

Alex sighed. "Still cool to over-share?"

"Always." Catherine said feeling a little hesitant in knowing the answer.

"I know this is going to...sound crazy, but..." Alex started to babble on as she took a seat on the empty hospital bed next to hers before continuing. "the doctor I saw is supposed to be dead. It was Vincent Keller."

"Oh." Catherine paused trying to figure out what to say. "Maybe it was someone that resembles him." She assumed. "You know what they say everyone has a twin in the world."

"You know, you're right. You're right. He's been dead over nine years." Alex stood up from the bed. "He...he would have come back to me if was him, right?"

"Of course." Catherine forced a smile as she watched the nurse return the smile and then leave the room. She then reached for her phone and texted Vincent about not coming back.

Catherine briefly closing her eyes and took a deep breath. What the hell was he thinking getting himself caught? And letting someone see him, especially someone who knows him. She can tell by the way Alex reacted to seeing him she must of been important to him. Someone close. Someone special and that worried her.

* * *

"Hey," JT greeted Vincent as he was coming back from visiting Catherine at the hospital. "So how's Cat doing?"

"She is fine. Uh...I just wished I could have uh...done something better, you know." Vincent said pulling the hood down from his jacket.

"Come on V don't beat yourself up for that." JT said.

Vincent clenched his jaw tightly. "I should have been the one saving her, not Evan."

"You did what you could, considering the circumstances." JT told him as he when back to flip through some of the notes he wrote down.

"Yeah." Vincent let out a sigh.

"Hey, I've been thinking, maybe you're mutating DNA could be another evolutionary step." JT said as he stood up and continued to look through the notes. "Like, a-a new manimal ability breaking through. Anything physical changing?"

"I don't know, man, I guess. My eyes have been playing up on me." Vincent said taking off his jacket and placing it on one of the chairs. He didn't really care about that right now. He had other problems surfacing, like an ex fiancée showing up and at the same hospital where Catherine was and seeing him.

"Probably just allergies, but who knows." JT suggested as he continued to go through the research papers that he had on the subject. "We can't really predict how you'll evolve. Maybe you'll change genders like a clown fish." JT let out a laugh as he turn to Vincent who wasn't amused by it. "Come on, that was a joke."

"Yeah..." Vincent scoffed as he gave a lopsided grin. He tried to figure out how to tell him who he saw at the hospital.

"What?"

"I saw Alex today." Vincent stated. He wasn't sure about how to tell him that she'd also seen him without freaking out JT.

"Alex Salter?" JT eyes widen and his jaw dropped open in shock.

"Yeah, I didn't talk to her, I just, I ran, you know." Vincent voice was weakened as he pressed his lips tight. "Like I did ten years ago."

"You have to stop beating yourself up for that too, man." JT came up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder for support.

"You know, I never got to say goodbye and..." Vincent stammered as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He felt a bit ashamed of how he'd ended things with her. "I never even reached out when I got back."

"And you had a damn good reason. Muirfield was hunting you. They still are. If they found you anywhere near her, they'd-" JT was about to finish, but Vincent got the idea.

"No, you're right, you're right. I never wanted her involved in any of this." Vincent admitting as he nodded his head in agreement and then hesitated.

"There's more isn't there?" JT saw the concerned look on his face.

"Mm-hmm."

"What?" JT asked again. He didn't like the sound of where this was going.

"She uh...She might have seen me." Vincent stammered.

"What? What do you mean she might have seen you?" JT questioning him as he raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, while I was heading down the steps, I pulled the surgeon's mask down...and that's when Alex saw me." Vincent explained to JT. How can he be so careless?

"Vincent, I thought you were going to be careful."

"I was, but..." Vincent hesitated trying to find an easier way to say it.

"But What? What happened dude?"

"Alex uh...called my name out." Vincent answered, regretfully.

"What?! Seriously, dude what the hell?" JT threw his hands up in the air. "What were you thinking?"

"I don't know man..." Vincent ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I didn't think she was going to be there, okay."

"That's not the point V." JT grabbed one of the books he was researching that he took from his office. "Muirfield could have seen you and then what?"

"I know, I screwed up man." Vincent admitted shamelessly.

"Look, dude I wasn't thrilled when you broke the rules with Cat seeing you the first time, but Alex..."

"I know man, but I didn't mean it to happen." Vincent tried to explain. "How was I supposed to know she was going to be at the same hospital where Catherine was?"

"Even so you could have waited until you left the building to take the mask off." JT told him.

"Yeah." Vincent let out another sigh. He thought for a moment. He'll have to face her now and tell her the reason he never reached out to her. "I...l'll just tell her what I should have told her years ago."

"Yeah and what's that?"

"That she's needs to move on and forget about me." Vincent answered as he thought about the conversation that he and Catherine had earlier.

JT scoffed. "Yeah good luck with that. You know how Alex is, it's not going to be that easy with her."

"Yeah, I know." Vincent sighed again. He remembered how hard it was for her when he got enlisted. She wasn't very enthusiastic about him leaving. "All I can do is try, you know."

JT sighed as he already could see this not ending well especially when it involves Alex. "Well, since you're busy trying to get yourself exposed..."

"JT." Vincent warned him.

"Look, I'll be visiting Sarah, since she is an earth sciences professor, emphasis in evolution." JT told him as he shoved one of the books into his bag. "I thought I might hit her up with some veiled mutation questions."

"Okay." Vincent whispered in a low voice. "Hey, just remember to, uh, make sure I'm not turning into a female clown fish, okay?" He joked trying to change the subject.

"Or are you? With the way you've been acting lately." JT snickered as he headed for door.

"Funny." Vincent called after him as JT left the warehouse to attend his classes. He needed to figure out his next move. He needed to check up on Catherine again, but first he needed to see Alex and tell her what he should have told her years ago.

Just then his phone in his back pocket started to vibrate and buzz indicating there was a text message. He pulled out his phone and flipped it open. It was from Catherine telling him not to come back to the hospital and that it wasn't safe. He let out a breath, grabbed his sweat jacket with the hood and headed out the door. Hopefully Evan didn't make a move on her. Or questioned her about him. He needed to see her still, even if it meant for him getting exposed. It's a risk he's willing to take.

To Be Continued…...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mention, they are all own by the CW.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, I know it's been awhile, but as all writers know that real life call sometimes and I've been working around on how to continue with this story from the original ideal that I had. Don't worry I will continue it.

(Chapter 2)

"You should've seen Evan. He was, like, ripping his clothes off, and I was all Meredith Grey, like, holding the bloody compress for him." Heather rambled on while she was trying to help her sister walk the hospital floor.

"Thanks for all the details." Catherine commented as she knew Heather when having a hangover she tends to exaggerate things. Beside she didn't want to vision her coworker like that let alone Evan.

"Yeah." Heather said while admitted shamelessly.

"Wait." Catherine let out a groan while stopping for a moment as her shoulder started to hurt her. "Am I holding you up, or are you holding me up?" She tried to lean on her sister for support, but that wasn't helping much. Since she wasn't to fond of hospitals Catherine figured this would be the perfect time to get her ass out of bed. And get some exercise by walking around the building with her sister's help.

"I am so sorry." Heather apologized while trying to keep her sister to stand upright again.

"Or hung-over." Catherine commented with a playful tone in her voice.

"Could-could I just run to the pharmacy really quickly?" Heather asked while she helped her sister lean against the wall.

"Of course."

"I'll be right back." Heather said in a hurry.

"You go. I'll just be right here. I'll be holding this wall up." Catherine joked as she leaned against the wall trying to keep herself upright the best she can.

Okay." Heather said while leaving.

Catherine okay her sister a reply before letting out another groan as she continued to keep herself standing against the wall. She hoped Vincent got her text message from earlier about not coming back. She still needed to know who her nurse was to him and why was she so bent out of shape about seeing him. She then let out another annoying groan as she spotted Vincent quickly stalking towards her. Wondering what the hell was he doing at the hospital? He was wearing his gray sweat jacket and had the hood up covering part of his head. As soon as he approached her, he gently grabbed her arm and took her into one of the storage supplies closet with him.

"Did you get my message? I told you it isn't safe to come back here." Catherine whispered to him as Vincent closed the door behind them.

"Okay, so what's going on?" Vincent asked while removing his hood and pressed his lips together. "Evan, trying to hunt down the vigilante again?" He assumed.

"More like my nurse. You might know her- Alex Salter." Catherine looked at him questionably. "Who is she?"

"Uh... we were just friends. We grew up together. Her, me, JT, my brothers, you know... and, uh, and later, we-we were pretty close." Vincent paused for a moment trying to figure out how to tell her. "We were engaged once."

"Oh." Catherine hesitated she wasn't sure how to respond. No wonder her nurse was so bent out of shape seeing him. "Well, that explains it." She commented while she started to head for the door.

"Explains what?" Vincent blocked her from leaving and drew his brows together in a scowl.

"Why she was such a wreck." Catherine answered while stepping back from him. She felt uncomfortable by the fact that he belong to somebody else.

"No... No, no, no." Vincent shook his head. He didn't want the face the fact that Alex did see him earlier. "You're just misreading her."

"No, Vincent," Catherine said as she backed away a little more. "I'm not misreading her." She remarked.

"It's been over ten years." Vincent insisted as he stepped closer to her and gently grabbed her by the arm to stop her from leaving again. He wanted to inform her. "She saw a ghost."

"I should go." said Catherine in a rush as she pulled her arm away from him and tried to reach for the door again.

"Catherine wait."

"Heather's going to be here any second." Catherine said hastily while cutting him off and squeezed passed his big frame to exited the storage room.

Vincent waited a couple of minutes contemplating his next move. He could sense the uncomfortable feeling coming from Catherine, when he mentioned about Alex and him being close and being his fiancee. He still needed to see Alex to tell her that she needs to move on, so he could move on with Catherine. He cracked open the door to the storage room and peeked out in the hall. He wanted to make sure it was clear before leaving to talk to her.

* * *

By nightfall he quickly made his way outside the hospital without being detected this time. He waited for Alex in the shadows to get done her shift. A few hours later he watched her enter her car and then made his move. He needed to tell her the reason he never came around to see her. He knew he had good reason, Muirfield was after him and he wasn't the same man that she loved before. He was different, and complicated.

"It's me." Vincent told Alex after he slid into the passenger seat of her car without anyone seeing him and closed the door behind him.

"Two soldiers came to your mom's house. They said you were dead."

"Alex... I was... I was a part of a Special Ops force. Okay, I... I had seen too much, and... I knew too much." Vincent started to explain to Alex the best way he knew how without giving too much away. Especially when it comes to Muirfield.

"I threw dirt on your casket, Vince." Alex left out a cry as her lower lip trembled. "What could be so bad that I had to do that?"

"I know that this is going to be hard to understand, okay? But you have to believe me. I promise the funeral was..." Vincent hesitated trying to recollect his thoughts on how to say it. "it was to protect you and everyone I cared about. Alex, my enemies, they are still out there watching."

"You could've come to me." Alex voice was distressing.

"No, no, it was far too dangerous and still is. You would've been caught in the crossfire. These people, they are dangerous, and they want me dead." Vincent told her as he seen her look at him confused.

"This... whole secret life... what do you do?

"It's not much of a life." He said simply. Which was the truth after hiding out for ten years. Not able to go out and get a job. Even taking a girl out on a date was out of the question. Lucky thanks to JT he had a place to live.

"Who else knows?" Alex asked him, but didn't get any response back and this worried her. So she decided to change the subject and find out more about the detective. "Fine. What about the detective? Who is she? And don't say no one."

"She's just a..." Vincent hesitated for a second thinking about how important Catherine was to him. He care deeply about and started having feelings for. He loved her, ever since that day he saved her in the woods. And then almost losing her the day before it only increased more. She was more than just a friend to him.

"So, she's a handler?" Alex assumed as she butted into his thoughts.

"No, she's a cop." Vincent told her. "A close friend."

"A close friend?" Alex looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah." Vincent insisted and then added. "She looks out for me."

"I was like that once." Alex said while pressing her lips together. Not believing that the detective was just a close friend. That she must be a handler or something.

"And I appreciate that. I really did, but you should've just given up on me." He told her.

"I loved you." Alex eyes filled with tears again.

"Alex, when I saw you today in the hospital-" Vincent was about to tell her that he was surprised to see her there.

"You mean, when you ran away." Alex interrupted him.

"I have... played this moment over and over in my head for years. Okay? I'm-I'm-I'm so sorry." Vincent said with a apologetic voice. He had to tell her, he hated seeing her cry because of him.

"I can't do this." Alex shook her head and pressed her lips together again.

"Alex, I wanted to contact you every day. Okay? Believe me. Every day, but... it was easier to imagine that you had some perfect husband, and three perfect kids somewhere." Vincent had wished she did so he wouldn't have to sit here trying to explain things to her. He needed to move on with Catherine, but he had to take care of this first.

"I wanted that in my life, once. We both did. But I just..." Alex paused again as her eyes filled with more tears.

"Couldn't move on." Vincent finished for her.

Alex leaned over and started caressing his cheek loving with hope in her eyes. "Am I going to see you again?"

"I don't think it'll be a good idea, Alex." Vincent quickly pulled back from her touch. He didn't get the same overwhelming feeling like when Catherine first touched him. The pounding of excitement of his heart and that rush of heat through his body to his groin. "I already put you and me both in jeopardy just by being here."

"Vince..."

"No, Alex you need to move on, okay." Vincent said with serious tone in his voice as he was about to exit her car.

"I can't Vince." Alex pleaded with him while placing her hand on his arm. "I'm still in love with you".

"I'm sorry. I can't uh, do this Alex it's for your own safety." Vincent exited her car and left for the warehouse.

* * *

"Hey, look what I got you." Tess said as she enter the hospital room carrying a bunch of balloons and a teddy bear.

"Awe, a stuffed bear." Catherine smiled at her partner humorously. Even if she felt a little ridiculous by Tess bringing her a teddy bear, it was the thought that counts, right? "Wait. No Red Vines?"

Tess let out a sigh, she knew she forgot something. She was so worried about her best friend she forgot to pick up the most important thing. "What? You just got out of surgery after just getting shot and almost dying." Tess voice sadden. "I'm sorry."

"There is no way we could've known what would happen to me." Catherine placed a hand on her friend's arm. "You have to let it go, okay?"

"Okay." Tess watched her partner's attention go back to the computer screen. "What's on the laptop- porn?" Joked Tess.

"No..." Catherine said while reaching for her laptop. She tried to put it on her lap, but her shoulder started bothering her.

Tess let out a groan as she reached the laptop before her partner did. She hated seeing her best friend struggling like that. She took a seat on the bed beside her. "My turn to pry."

"Okay." Catherine groaned in pain.

"Well, a little Facebook stalking." Tess joked as she took the laptop from her and place it on her lap instead. She looked at what her friend typed up on the computer.

"Alex Salter." Catherine told her.

"And he's..." Tess said assuming she was talking about a guy with a name like that.

"She's, my nurse. I don't know, a little detective thing." Catherine replied while trying to come up with a believable excuse as to why she was really snooping in the first place.

"Ditch the social media crap, and get on the NYPD database." Tess suggested as she pulled up the database up on the screen and started typing in the information.

"That's a little bit deeper than I wanted to dig." Catherine commented while watching Tess do her thing. She just wanted to know about Alex's relationship with Vincent and why was she so important to him.

"I got a hit." Tess said with enthusiasm, like she was impressed with herself. "She doesn't have a record, but she filed six police reports in three months. She complained of someone following her, checking her emails, wiretapping, and breaking and entering. But there's no signs of forced entry."

"Are there any leads?" Catherine asked wondering and hoped it wasn't Murfield that was stalking her.

"Well, it's Precinct 86." Tess commented. She had heard some of the complaints from some customers about how they handle some of their cases. "Those stooges haven't even looked into it yet. Only thing they did was make notes."

"Paranoid and delusional." Tess continued to read out loud as she seen the result of the report that was filed. "That's pretty big words for those guys. But, then again, your nurse does sound a little 51 50." Tess commented.

Catherine needed to get a hold of Vincent and warn him about someone stalking his fiancée. Someone that might be involved with Muirfield. She thought what would be the easiest way to get her partner to leave without raising any suspicion. So she decided to fake a yawn, hoping it would work.

Tess saw her friend give out a yawn and decided it was her cue to leave. "Okay, why don't I let you rest."

"Okay." Catherine said with a fake smile.

"I'll check this out for you and call you when I find something." Tess offered with a smile as she stood up from the bed.

"Sure. Thanks Tess." Catherine replied as she gave her a grateful smile and then said their goodbyes to each other. She reached for her phone that was beside her on the table and dialed Vincent's number. Hopefully she can get a hold of him and let him know about Alex's stalker.

"Seriously." Catherine left the phone ring a few times before it went to voicemail. She left a brief message letting him know that she was about to leave the hospital and head over to Alex's to check on her.

Where the hell was he? And what was so important that he couldn't answer his phone? Just like when he didn't answered his phone after she left her father's wedding. She quickly decided to dial JT's number hoping to get a hold of him that way.

"Cat?" JT questioned her sounding surprised and worried as to why she was calling him and not Vincent. He was just about to come up to Sarah's cubicle when she called him.

"JT, I think that Alex is being watched." Catherine told him straight forward.

"What?" JT asked not sure if he heard her right.

"Yeah, she reported that some faceless person was following her. They tapped her phone, broke into her apartment." She continued.

"Well, It wasn't Vincent. He never went to see her, he always said it was too painful." JT remarked.

"Well, does it sound like someone else we know?" Catherine said in a low voice as she looked around to make sure no one was listening and continued. "Walks around without a face...taps into electronics without being detected. JT, what if this is Muirfield?"

"Oh, God." JT replied with a groaned as he looked up at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh. He couldn't believe this was happening now.

"Put Vincent on the phone. I need to warn him." Catherine requested.

"I can't."

"Why?" Catherine couldn't believe this was happening. All the times Vincent was there in a heartbeat if she needed him.

"Because I-I'm not at the warehouse right now." JT explained.

"Great and he's not picking up his phone either." Catherine let out a heavy sighed and then hastily hung the phone up on JT. She placed it on the table next to her bed and started to detached the IV from her arm. She got herself up out of the bed with a painful groan. She knew it was a bad idea to leave the hospital in her condition, but she was concerned about Alex. What if the guy comes back to go after her? She also had to keep Muirfield from finding out about Vincent. She went to gathered her clothes that her sister brought from home and then started getting change in the bathroom.

* * *

Alex parked her car and went across the street, she was so excited to see Vincent again and relieved that he was alive. Maybe this time they can finally be together and live the life they once dreamed about. She wasn't sure about Detective Chandler though, it seemed she was more than just a 'special friend' to Vincent. He still loved her, didn't he? He had to since they knew each other from childhood. She still was in loved with him, that's why she kept all them letters and mementos. She was about to come up to her apartment building when a guy with the knife came up behind her.

"I saw you with your little soldier boyfriend. That was him, right?" Alex let out a gasp as she heard a man's voice behind her grabbing her. And then felt a blade of the knife against her throat. "I bet he's gonna miss you. I've been thinking about this for a long time."

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

Author's Note: Still in the process of continuing. Thanks for hanging in there good people. Hope you are enjoying it as I am writing it.

(Chapter 3)

"Catherine! Catherine!" Vincent tried to open the car door with his normal human strength, but it was too mangled. He heard her heartbeat growing weaker as he received no response and her breathing was becoming shallow. That was enough to send his adrenaline into overdrive and causing him to change and take the form of the beast. He ripped off the car door and removed Catherine's lifeless body out. He cradled her small frame in his arms and started to become frantic. His beast looked for an escape route to take her far away, he wanted her safe. However the doctor in him knew Catherine needed medical assistance asap and waited, hoping someone will come along. Then it happened all at once, her heart stopped and the breathing came to a halt.

"Catherine?" Vincent cried out while he woke gasping for air as his heart pounded against his rib cage. He still replayed that damned nightmare in his head, remember seeing the car accident, his senses picking up not only the smell, but hearing the tire screeching along with crunch of the metal and shattering of glass. He feared something had happened to Catherine when he saw the accident as both vehicles were in the middle of the road Immobilized. He still felt responsible since he was pissed at her and didn't want to answer the damn phone.

After talking with Alex he came back to the warehouse, he needed to get some sleep, especially after what happened the night before. Vincent put his phone on vibrate, and forgot to turn the ringer back on. He grabbed the phone off the nightstand and looked at his screen. He noticed there were five missed calls from Catherine along with a voice message. His heart pounded nervously against his chest while he listened to the message she left, someone was stalking Alex and she was on her way to check on her. Hastily he hung up the phone throwing it on the bed beside him, before running his right hand frustrated through his hair and resting his elbows on his knees. He thought recently of how he had developed these strong feelings for the woman he only save 9 years ago, but not once did he check on Alex. Why? Could it be the fact that Catherine and his lives intertwine because of Muirfield?

After brushing his teeth, Vincent headed over to the dresser to grab a clean shirt from one of the drawers. When he heard JT enter the warehouse and was making his way up the stairs. "Dude, you know Cat has been trying to reach you." JT told him as he entered the loft and approached him.

"Yeah, I know." Vincent left out a sigh.

"What?" JT gave a questionable look.

"Catherine left the hospital to go uh help Alex." Vincent stated not liking her decision to take it upon herself to help protect Alex. Especially just coming out of surgery.

"She mention it might have been Muirfield, but I didn't think she would leave the hospital." JT told him as he seen the questionable expression on Vincent's face and could tell something was bothering him. "What? She tried to get a hold of you, but you weren't answering your phone."

"I was with Alex." Vincent stated and then clenched his jaw tightly.

"You went to see Alex?" JT couldn't believe Vincent would want to risk getting exposed again.

"Yeah, to tell her to move on." Vincent answered.

"Vincent, we talked about this. You going to see Alex only risk exposing not only yourself, but…..."

He cut off JT by saying. "I know man, but I had to." He wondered if Alex was so worked up seeing him that she forgot to mention about some guy stalking her. "Alex never thought to tell me about this?"

"Maybe she didn't think it was a big deal." JT guessed.

"Not a big deal? JT, Catherine is putting herself in danger again, because of me." Vincent commented while getting up from the couch. He wasn't about to have her risk her life for him, not while she was injured. Not only did he have to worry about Alex's safety, but now the one who captured his heart too. Is she really looking to get herself more injured or worse? "Why the hell Catherine thinks it would be Muirfield?" Vincent look at him questionably again. Where was she getting that idea from?

"Probably because someone was wiretapping Alex." JT told him and then added. "I guess she'd figured it was them."

"I'm gonna go check on them." Vincent started as he was about to grab his phone and jacket when he was blocked by JT from leaving.

"I don't think that'll be a good idea." JT blocked him still.

"Come on man, I got to do something."

"Cat, probably don't want you to risk getting yourself expose again." JT told him.

"She wouldn't of been in the hospital because of me." Vincent voice became emotional as he tried to go pass him again. He was too filled with guilt of leaving her at the damn reception when he did and then her getting shot after the car accident only made it harder for him. It's a good thing she made out alive, because he wouldn't know if he could have handled it if she didn't.

"Come on V, that wasn't your fault. You couldn't of known what was going to happen to her." JT tried to reason with him.

"I know, but you weren't there pulling her lifeless body out of that damn car and not being able to do anything, man." Vincent's voice was still filled with emotion again as he brushed passed his best friend and headed for the door again. "I'm not gonna sit here while their both in danger."

"Okay, okay just be careful this time then." JT called to Vincent as he opened the door and left the warehouse. He knew it was useless to try to reason with him again, knowing from what happened the night before.

On the way to Alex's apartment, Vincent pulled out his burner phone and dialed the number to the precinct. He waited until one of the operators to pick up the phone before proceeding to tell them about Catherine leaving the hospital without her doctor's okay. He didn't like that she left the hospital and especially in her condition. He knew she was trying to help out and that she was also too stubborn for her own good.

"Yeah uh, actually her Doctor needs her to go home and rest." Vincent stated through the phone as he approached the empty lot back of the warehouse.

"Thank you for letting us know Dr. Zalanski."

"Um...Yeah, okay." Vincent ended the called as he quickly hung up the phone and pocket it into his coat. He knew Catherine wasn't going to be happy when she finds out, but he'll be damned to have her injury herself more. He then started to head over to Alex's.

* * *

As Catherine slowly made her way down the street towards Alex's apartment. She saw some guy holding Alex with a knife to her throat. She knew she had to help, but she wouldn't be able to aim her gun at him due to her injury. She was afraid she would miss and accidentally hit Alex. So she tried carefully her only other option to get his attention was by raising her gun up in the air and pull the trigger painfully.

"What the hell?" The guy yelled as he heard the shot coming from the direction where Catherine stood. He quickly let go of Alex and then started heading off down the street.

"Stop!" Catherine shouted while letting out a painful groan. She tried to run after him, but her shoulder started bothering her and she leaned against one of the buildings for support.

"Oh my god!" Alex ran over to help her. She was shocked to see Vincent's handler come to her aid. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." Catherine gasped in pain again while nursing her shoulder.

"Here, let's go to my place and I'll help change the bandage." Alex offered as she aided Catherine by helping her back to her apartment.

"I don't even know how to thank you." Alex said while putting on the clean bandage. "How did you know I'd be in trouble?"

"I, uh..." Catherine hesitated. She knew she couldn't tell her about looking her up on the police database, because of the reason being she was close to Vincent and maybe be in danger. So she came up with a believable excuse. "I didn't. I was just stopping by to say thank you for the great health care."

"Or maybe you started keeping tabs on me, because of Vince?" Alex smiled at her, but then paused when she saw the confusion on Catherine's face. "Of him coming to see me, I mean." She again saw the confused look on her like she didn't know about it.

"It's okay. It's okay. Vince told me everything. Obviously, that's... that's just what you do when you're somebody's handler." Alex smiled again at her.

"Alex, uh," Catherine paused for a moment trying to get over Vincent calling her his handler. He had the nerve after the fact that he risk exposing himself by coming to her father's wedding and pulling her out of that wrecked car. Why would he risk seeing Alex like that since Muirfield was out there? And why the hell did he call her his handler? "who was that guy?"

"Uh... I'd never seen him before, but..." Alex hesitated while shaking her head as she was getting her thoughts together. "he seemed to know me. He said he'd been thinking about doing this for years. Detective Chandler, he might be the person that's been watching me. I had a break-in a few weeks ago."

"Oh, really? Did, uh, they take anything?" Catherine asked while taking some of the aspirins from Alex to ease the pain in her shoulder and swallowed.

"No. It was weird." Alex stated as she watched the detective get up from the couch and made her way into her bedroom. " I think whoever it was just went through my closet."

"I'll check and see if the prep left any advice." Catherine told her while she started to examine some of the things in Alex's closet, when she came across a bunch of letters addressed to Alex from Vincent. He wrote to her saying that how much he missed her and couldn't wait to get back to the states to marry her. She could feel a painful tightness in her throat as she looked through some of the photos. Seeing them together happily, smiling and embracing each other. She continued to look through the photos and came across one of him when he was younger. Vincent was standing by the beach smiling, looking happy and sexy as ever. She noticed that he still looked the same on the outside, but on the inside she knew it was a different story. She had to wonder if Vincent even told Alex about the 'new' him. She quickly pocket the photo of him after he entered the apartment and made his way to the bedroom.

* * *

Vincent arrived at Alex's just after the sunrise, hoping Alex was okay and so was Catherine. He knew she could take care of herself, but with her condition now she could get herself more injured. He really didn't want to be here, but if it wasn't for Catherine's condition he would still be at the warehouse. He knocked again waiting for Alex to answer. "Alex, it's Vince. Open up."

"Vince?" He heard the surprise in her voice, the rapid beating of her heart and the sound of her shoes walking quickly towards the door. Alex nearly threw herself into his arms after opening the apartment door.

"Hey. You okay?" Vincent gave Alex an abrupt hug before stepping into her place. Having her this close in his arms, it was nothing like the same feeling he got when he held Catherine in his arms at her father's wedding. The way her petite body felt against him that electric spark that went through his entire body to his groin and the smell of her sweet perfume. He always wanted to get that close to her since that time he saved her. He use to feel like that with Alex, but not anymore. "Uh, Catherine called and left a message. What's going on?"

"Oh, she's... she's amazing." Alex started babbling on as he sensed her overwhelm by the fact he actually showed. "Your handler, she... she saved my life."

"Alex," Vincent left out a breath as he took a mental sigh while following Alex inside her apartment. "We talked about this."

"I, uh," Alex hesitated for a moment before reaching out for his cheek to caress it. "wasn't sure if I was gonna see you again."

"Yeah, well, I'm here now." Vincent voice was apathetic as he pressed his lips together and quickly pulled back from her hand. He could hear Catherine's heart beating rapidly from the bedroom. She was nervous about something. "Is she in there?"

"Oh yes, sorry." Alex was shocked. She couldn't believe that Vincent again pulled away like he did last night. He never reacted towards her like that before when they were together. "She's right in here, the bedroom." Alex told him while pointing towards the direction of where Catherine was.

"Handler, really?" Catherine gave him a hurtful expression as she slowly made her way towards the door, meeting him.

"I didn't..." Vincent was about to explain things to her, he figured that Catherine must of heard Alex referring to her as his handler. He saw Alex approaching them and decided it wasn't the best time. Not with his ex around anyway.

"Sorry, uh, no trace of the perp." Catherine said to Alex while ignoring Vincent and changed the subject.

"Well, they already dusted for prints so I figured it was a long shot." Alex replied while pushing her hair aside.

"He was in the apartment?" Vincent asked looking worried.

"Yeah, we think a couple weeks ago, so any scent of him is probably long gone." Catherine gave him a look, hinting on maybe it'll be a good time to try and use his 'secret abilities'. Before looking back at Alex asking. "They find any other evidence?"

"A hair, some mud from shoes, but I never heard back."

"Probably booked it into property without it. Sometimes it's easier to call someone crazy rather than face the facts." Catherine explained to her and then looked at Vincent. "You stay here with her. I'll be back."

"No," Vincent gently grabbed her arm, trying to stop her. He could smell the scent of her blood seeping through her bandage and it was driving his senses off the wall. He needed to check on that bandage, before it would get infected and probably worse."you need to go back to the hospital and get better, okay."

"I need you to stay with your fiancee in case the stalker comes back." Catherine informed him as she left out of Alex's apartment and before Vincent could stop her again. She needed to get some space after reading them letters and looking at the pictures. She needed some time to think and figure out if going forward with him would be such a good Idea.

"Catherine wait."

"I tried calling you." Catherine stated upsettingly as she felt Vincent's hand gently grab her, but tried to get away from him.

"I know, but uh I, I was..." Vincent stepped closer to her, blocking her. He needed to explain to her what happened with Alex.

"I figured you were with her." Catherine cut him off with a hint of jealousy in her voice. She figured that was the real reason why he didn't pick up the phone. Just like at her father's wedding. "Just stay here with her in case the stalker comes back."

"Catherine." Vincent was about to follow her down the street, but stop when he saw Catherine put her hands up to stop him. He could sense the upsetment in her voice as he watched her turn and walk away before he headed back inside Alex's.

Catherine couldn't figure out why he was acting so weird, like he was more protective of her then his own fiancee. Someone he should be more concerned about, right? Considering there's someone out there stalking her. She started towards the precinct, hopefully to get more information on who was going after Alex. Maybe she could get Evan to check it out and hoping it wasn't Murfield related that broke into her place.

* * *

"What do you mean you let her go?" The male voice asked through the phone angrily. "You were supposed to attack her until Keller showed up."

"I did, but then her cop friend showed up." Connor replied while he paced his apartment nervously.

"Her cop friend?" The voice questioned through the receiver.

"Yeah, some small petite woman with long brunette hair." Connor remembered every detail of that sexy cop.

"Detective Chandler." The man said angrily through the phone. "It can't be."

"So you do know her?"

"Yes, she's connected to Keller too." There was a pause before the voice continued. "And she was supposed to have died in a car accident a couple of days ago."

"So, what do you want me to do now?"

"I want you to still take care of the fiancée." Answered the voice then added."The way that we planned it."

"Okay, but what about the cop?" Connor already had a gut feeling that they weren't just going to let her go.

"We will take care of her later, just make sure this time that he shows up." The male voice answered menacing and pausing again. "And Connor don't mess this up. Or you wouldn't get the money we'd promise you." The voice continued before hanging up the phone.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

Author's Note: Still in the process of continuing, it's probably going to take awhile for the next upcoming chapters, since I'm still trying to figure where to go with this story. Hopefully not. Thanks for hanging in there good people, I hope you are still enjoying it as I am writing it.

(Chapter 4)

Evan was looking through the microscope when he spotted Catherine entering the morgue. He didn't expect her to be there since she just called him a couple of minutes ago. "Cat, what the hell are you doing here?" Evan got up.

"Following up on evidence."

"Yeah, of course, but when you called it in, I thought you were actually calling it in." Evan looked at her and gestured her to take a seat in the chair he was sitting in. "Sit down."

"Okay." Catherine brushed her hair a side and then took the seat that Evan had a few minutes ago.

"Your bandage is bleeding through." Evan noted as he saw the red stained on her shirt. "Did your doctor release you?"

"Yeah. He said he was fine with my recovery." Catherine quickly lied while drew her brows together and shook her head. She didn't want to try explain to Evan about the real reason why she left. The fact that she almost got herself hurt trying to protect Vincent's stupid ass fiancée. Let alone trying to protect him from Muirfield again.

"Take down your jacket." Evan order her while he took a seat in front of her.

"Evan, you don't have to do this." Catherine complain as she would rather have Vincent changed it. If he wasn't too busy with his fiancee, then again Alex wouldn't be too thrilled having her fiancée touching another woman.

"Look, if he's not going to look after you properly, I sure as hell am." Evan started to unbutton her jacket more, so he could examine the wound.

Catherine sat there letting out a groan, she was too much in pain to argue with Evan at this point. She allowed him to unbuttoned the top portion of her shirt farther and started to change her bandage. She kept thinking about feeling Vincent's large hands undress her shirt and glaze his hand over top the wound. To have him undress her slowly, his rough hands exploring her entire body...

"That guy you were dancing with at your father's wedding, who was he?" Even inquired as his voice broke into her thoughts

"Guy? What guy?" Catherine gave a nervous chuckle wanting to play it off like she didn't know. Since she told everyone that the guy she was bringing was someone she made up. Well his last name was anyway.

"Come on Cat. Don't play innocent with me."

"One of the guests must have brought a friend." Catherine commented quickly.

"If I didn't know better myself he seem more than just a friend." Evan looked at her as he applied the bandaged, hoping to get more answers. "The way he was holding you close."

"Like I said, it must of been one of the guests." Catherine repeated.

"Well, you still owe me that dance." He told her while applying the gauzed. "Especially after that kiss..."

"Yeah about that."

"You know, it's odd how you asked me about the creature's DNA changing and then I find the thing holding you at the car accident." Evan then applied taped to the wound.

"I wasn't really conscious when it was happening, remember." Catherine reminding him, hoping Evan will get off of the subject. She remembered Vincent mentioning Evan may have seen him and that it wasn't a good thing.

"I know, but..." Evan was about to say, but Catherine cut him off.

"You, uh, get a match on that hair?" She didn't want to talk about the dance or the kiss right now. Not with Evan anyway. She rather it would have been Vincent. She tried to change the subject before it became more complicated. Not to mention uncomfortable than it was already.

"I did. But why are you digging around in an old case from Precinct 86?" Evan asked as he finished dressing her wound.

"Just a favor and because it's Precinct 86." Another lied she told him.

"Point taken. Yeah, I pulled a name and a photo." Evan took a photo off his desk and handed it over to her. "He's an ex-con, released a couple of months ago. goes by the name of Connor..."

"Thanks Evan this is really been helpful." Catherine said while taking the photo from Evan and headed towards the door.

"Cat, we need to talk about that night."

"Look Evan I have to go." Catherine said to him quickly while leaving the morgue and nearly bumping into her partner. "Tess. Hey." Catherine greeted her partner with a fake smile. She must of been too busy wondering what Evan had in mind to talk to her about that night to notice her approaching.

"Cat, what are you doing out of the hospital?" Tess gave her a serious expression as she approached the morgue and then pulled her aside. She couldn't believe her partner was here at the precinct and not were she's supposed to be.

"How did you..." Catherine was about to ask her, but got cut off by Tess.

"Well for starters when I called one of the nurses said you weren't in your room." Tess told her in a low voice and then added. "Besides checking up on you. was going to tell you what I've found out about the perp that was stalking your nurse."

"She was attacked last night and I went to help her." Catherine told her as she continued to walk. "It seems her stalker is more then just infatuated with her."

"And you thought you can handle that by yourself?" Tess remarked upsettingly.

"Tess, I'm fine." Catherine answered her as she turned to her. She winced in pain again as she moved her shoulder a little.

"The hell you are, you shouldn't even be here." Tess told her in a low voice again as she was about to block her from leaving. "Look, Cat I get that you want to help. I really do, but you just got out of surgery."

"Like I said my nurse needed help." Catherine repeated herself.

"And I told you I was going to take care of that." Tess told her while following her down the hallway and then gave her questionable look. "You know you're on medical leave right?"

"Yes, Tess I know, but..." Catherine let out an annoyed sigh as she was about to head towards the double doors. She knew her partner was just concerned about her. She also needed some space from Vincent.

"If Joe finds out that you're doing 'cop stuff'." Tess whispered to Catherine while looking around making sure he wasn't in hearing distance. "he will put you on desk duties."

"I know, but think the perp is going to come back again." Catherine said while opening the door to leave.

"Don't do anything stupid Cat." Her partner warned her.

"Tess I gotta go." Catherine told her partner as she walked passed her and heading for Alex's.

* * *

Vincent stood by the couch in Alex's living room, staring out the window. His mind went back on that night again how his beast let out a cry, fearing something had happened to her. He couldn't eat or sleep right after Catherine's car accident and her getting shot at. The way he kept blaming himself if only he stayed at the damn wedding, none of this would have happened to her. He worried himself sick wondering if she was going to make it out alive. He'll be damned if he would let anything happen to her now, he couldn't stand losing her not now or ever.

"So how long have you known Detective Chandler, Vince?"

"For couple of months." Vincent lied as he started to shove his hands in his pants pocket. Even though he only knew Catherine for a couple of months. He felt like he knew her longer while he watched over her them 10 years.

"And your acting like that?"

"Like what?" Vincent stopped to look at her, afraid that she was going to go there.

"Like something is going on between the both of you." Alex commented. She could tell by the way he kept looking at the detective that she was more than just a close friend or a cop.

"Alex." Vincent sighed not wanting to talk about that right now and not with her.

"What are you not telling me Vince?"

'A lot of things' Vincent was almost tempted to go check on Catherine. He needed her to get better, but he couldn't just leave Alex here alone while a stalker was still out there. "I told you, I can't."

"You know you can trust me Vince." Alex stood up from her sofa and came over to him.

"Yes, but ...I" Vincent paused trying to find a way to tell Alex, without divulging too much information about Murfield.

"But what?"

"It's better that you don't know, okay." Vincent turn to face Alex as she approached him.

"You care for her, don't you Vince?" Alex could tell by the way he kept pacing the floor a few minutes ago, that something was bothering him.

"Yeah." He told her honestly.

"And me?" Alex place her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. She needed to know, especially after the way Vincent has been acting towards her lately.

"Alex, I do still care for you, okay, but..." Vincent paused and pulled back from her, even though he wasn't with her, he still cared. "I uh…." he was about to tell her that he didn't have them same feelings like he did when they were together. But at that moment Catherine came back from the precinct carrying a brown business size envelope with her.

"Connor Sorvino- he was shot twice in the takedown." Catherine opened up the envelope, taking the contents inside of the perp and handed to Alex. She then took a seat on the couch beside her. It was a photo of the perp. She continued explaining. "He had three months in recovery, and the hospital records I pulled, they showed you as the attending."

"Oh, my God." Alex then realized who the guy was. "We used to call him 'Con Man.' He-he thought he was in love with me. He kept asking me to marry him, but I said..." Alex paused with hesitation and quickly glanced over at Vincent.

"What is it? Over-share, remember?"

"I... said I was already in love. That my heart belonged to someone else." Alex commented while she continued to look at Vincent.

Vincent's attention then went to Catherine. "Uh, okay, uh, Catherine, you got to call Tess and let her know he's dangerous."

"It's not as easy as that. She'll have forensics will sweep this place and Alex's car." She told Vincent.

"Meaning they'll... they'll find Vince's DNA?" Alex then realized what can happen if that would accurd. "No, no. We can't have that."

"I'm not having Catherine walk around injured and you as some kind of target." Vincent said to Alex before looking at Catherine for a moment again.

"Use me as bait. I'll have you two looking out for me." Alex offered.

"No." Vincent couldn't believe Alex would want to put herself in that position. Let alone Catherine's.

"If we could draw him out." Alex started to protest.

"That's not a good idea." Catherine chimed in shaking her head. She wouldn't want any innocent person to put there life on the line especially Alex's.

"And there is no uh..we, Alex. Catherine just got out of surgery." Vincent voice was stern, he couldn't believe she wanted Catherine's help, especially in her condition. He had to make sure Alex knew how important her safety was to him.

"Don't you think I know that." Alex couldn't believe the way Vincent talked to her, the tone in his voice. So she suggested. "Just listen. Connor's hacked my emails, I know it. Sometimes he forgets to mark the new ones 'unread.' If I write to a friend and say that I was taking off after a shift to be with the guy I love." Alex mentioned while looking over at Vincent waiting for a response.

"Okay, fine." Vincent sighed he only agreed with her because he knew Alex wasn't going to give up. She wasn't as strong as Catherine was and she'll probably need both of their help. He continued watching as his ex opened the laptop and start typing on the computer. Then looked over at Catherine as her eyes meet his and their gazes held for a moment. He really didn't want her here trying to protect Alex just because of him. He wanted her to recover and get better. So they could possibly get back into being together.

* * *

Later on that evening Catherine and Alex met with Vincent at the hospital before taking their positions. He stood leaning against the wall where the waiting room was. While Catherine sat in one of the chairs across from him looking through one of the magazines. He knew that she was just pretending to be there helping Alex. She shouldn't be here not in her condition, but being the stubborn person, she was. He had no say in the matter, but he would definitely keep a close eye on her.

Vincent took this moment to check on Alex and make sure she was standing by the hospital information desk like they planned. His eyes met hers and gave her a concerned look. Even though he wasn't with Alex like he used to be. He still cared about her. He kept watching the entrance of the hospital, noticing some guy coming in and was just standing there for a moment. Figuring it was a visitor he looked back over to where Catherine was again, after the guy walked off.

It was quiet for a few moments before a big explosion erupted in the building, setting off the alarms. Vincent's heart quickly went into overdrive when he noticed Alex had disappeared. He then quickly followed her scent that lead him towards the exit doors. He had to stop himself from continuing when he realized that he almost forgot about Catherine. Thankfully she wasn't too far behind him as they both enter the corridor.

"What's wrong?" Catherine followed Vincent through the doors out into the corridor. She could tell by the way he was breathing that he was about to lose control. It was already hard enough for her to walk in her condition trying to keep up with his long strides.

"She was just here!" Vincent panicked a little as he wasn't in full Beast mode yet.

"She's still here. We'll find her." Catherine assured him while slowly approaching.

"Okay, come on." Vincent started to pant again a little more this time as he headed off around the corner. He wasn't trying to get upset, but just thinking about something happening to Alex and worrying about Catherine at the same time was setting off his adrenaline. He couldn't get anything, no sounds of them and it was getting annoying. He started to pace the floor. "This place is a damn echo chamber."

"Don't worry, we will find her." Catherine assured him again as she didn't want to have to deal with Vincent's Beast right now. Not in her condition anyway.

"There's gotta be a quicker way."

"Maybe we should split up." Catherine suggested, figuring she'll only get in the way of him saving his fiancée. "You can find her quicker then I could in my condition.

"It won't be quicker if I have to worry about you too." Vincent said with a worried tone while he gently grabbing her by the arm, stopping her from leaving. What the hell was she thinking? He almost lost her once, he'll be damned if he'll let that happen again. "And Alex life maybe at stake, but you just got out of surgery." Vincent said concerning.

"I'll be okay." Catherine started to head in the opposite direction.

"Just be careful. Okay." Vincent told while clenching his jaw. He knew it would be useless to try and stop her. He watched her make a turn around the corner before heading off in the other direction

* * *

"Connor! Connor, please! Stop! Please, you... Please, you don't..." Alex pleaded loudly with Connor as she was dragged by the arm down the long corridor. She was hoping that Vincent would come to her rescue before it would be too late.

"Shut up. Shut up!" Connor was getting sick and tired of hearing her nagging at him, while he dragged her ass around the corn

"You don't have to do... Please! Please! You don't have to do this!" Alex came to a halt as she wanted to hold him off long enough so that Vincent could come save her. She continued to struggle with Connor holding on to him. "I-I was good to you. I-I took care of you."

Catherine heard the commotion as she was approaching the corner, hiding behind it and then peaked around while aiming her gun. She could see Alex trying to struggle with Connor as he tried to drag her ass towards her direction.

"That's why you would've been the perfect wife. All you had to say was yes." Connor said while pointing the gun at Alex and she let out a gasp. "When I saw you with that Army grunt, I knew you'd never love anyone else, that no one could take the place of..." Connor paused as he could have sworn he heard a noise coming from around the corner before continuing. "...your first love."

Catherine took off the safety lock on her gun and cocked it, she had the get ready in case something would happen. Especially with the way Connor was waving his gun around, she was concerned that somebody would get hurt.

"Please... let me go!" Alex started crying, fearing for her life. "No...! Please...! Please...! Vincent! Vincent! No! No! Please...! Alex started to scream as Connor dragged her around another corner again.

"Get in there!" Connor said while shoving her into one of the boiler rooms and jammed one of the folded up chairs underneath the handle.

"Vincent!" Alex screamed while repeatedly banging on the door, hopefully to get his attention and he would come and rescue her.

"Police!" Catherine shouted as she came out from behind the corner, aiming her gun at Connor. "Let her go Mr. Sorvino."

"I can't. They want me to use her to get to him and then get rid of you." Connor replied menacingly as he aimed his gun at her.

"Who?"

"I think you have a pretty good idea." Connor replied while he slowly approached where Catherine was, still aiming his gun at her.

"No, Vincent." Catherine realized who Connor was referring to, Muirfield. Was he working for them? Before she could make sense of all this, she saw Connor fired his gun, causing her to quickly move out of the way just in time and landed on her injured shoulder, while falling to the ground. She let out a loud painful moan, losing the grip on her gun in the process as it slides a few feet from her. She watched helplessly while nursing her injured shoulder as Connor stalked towards her and pointed his gun at her saying. "it's really is a shame that he's gonna miss you too."

To be continued. . . . . . .


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

Author's Note: Still in the process of continuing, it's probably going to take a while for the next upcoming chapters, trying to figure out the direction of this story. Thanks for the reviews and hanging in there good people. I hope you are still enjoying it as I am writing it.

(Chapter 5)

After leaving Catherine, Vincent went through the hall, trying to get a sense of Alex and Connor. For a moment he looked up at the lights overhead and his eyes started to bother him. What the hell is going on with him? It was happening again, his eyes were bothering like they were when he was at the hospital visiting Catherine. As soon as he looked away they went back to normal. Hopefully, nothing serious was going on with him, especially after the talk of his DNA possibly changing. He was about to continue down the hallway when he heard it, the gunshot and Catherine screaming in pain. Then the nightmare happened again the one that he had feared, he knew he shouldn't have left her. He made his way over to where her scent was, watching her nurse the injured shoulder while trying to get herself up off the floor. With that bastard Connor as he stood over her pointing a gun. He didn't like the idea that she was hurt again and by the same jerk that was stalking Alex.

"Catherine!" Vincent yelled while approaching Connor and quickly ducked behind some of the pipes as he fired shots at him. Luckily the bullets missed him and noticed him reloading his gun.

"Come to save the cop friend of yours, huh?" Connor said before grabbing Catherine while she was getting up and dragged her with him towards another set of doors of the hospital.

"They're just using you, Mr. Sorvino." Catherine tried to reason with him as she continued to struggle, but it was useless with the shoulder being injured as it was.

"Shut up!" Connor yelled as he pushed the muzzle of the gun against her temple. He started to drag her to where the electric circuit breaks were, shutting the steel door and locking it.

Vincent followed Connor as he took Catherine through the double doors, hearing her screaming in pain was enough for him to change and transform into the beast and let out a growl. He heard her heart beating rapidly and started pounding on the steel door to try to get it open. He wasn't about to let Connor do something to severely hurt her more.

"You don't want to be known as a cop killer. Do you Mr. Sorvino?"

"I said, shut up," Connor with a sharp tone in his voice He pushed the gun harder against her forehead, causing her head to move more and her shoulder started hurting her again.

Vincent used all his beast strength to burst open the door and started following her scent. He wanted to hurt Connor like he was hurting Catherine. He let out another ferocious growl and slowly made his way stalking over to where Connor was holding her.

"Let me guess soldier boy, come to rescue your sweetheart." Connor said while holding Catherine as he slowly started to make his way over to where Vincent was.

"You willing to die for your fiancée or the sexy cop? Which will it be?" Connor taunted while spotted Vincent running in another direction. He started to fire at him, but hit one of the pipes instead again. "Your fiancée is obviously in love with you, still."

Vincent took cover behind the pipes and began leaning against one of them. He shielded his eyes as they start to bother him again. He thought about how he was going to keep Catherine safe, he needed to get Connor away from her by directing his attention elsewhere.

"Looks like you're still in love with her." Connor started to wander around and saw Vincent standing by another set of pipes.

Vincent stepped away from the pipes long enough so Connor could see him. He then heard the shot coming from where Connor was and could tell his shooting skills was not all that great. As the bullet missed him, hitting the electric panel box, causing the lights in the building to shut off and blackness occurred. That's when his eyes started to adjust to the darkness and took this opportunity to stalk towards Connor again.

"Great! I can't see you. But if you don't come out…" Connor started waving his gun around again before placing it against Catherine's temple. Not aware of Vincent stalking towards him still. "how will you ever save her from me? Meaning you don't need this one then."

"No?" Connor inquired while taking out the lighter he had in his pocket. "Okay. But you just remember..." He flipped it open, letting out a gasp when he turned around and saw the flame from the lighter illuminate off Vincent's grotesque face.

Catherine knew even if her shoulder now was killing her. She had to take this opportunity to use one of her legs and kicked Connor's shin, causing him to let her go.

"Why you little Bit..." Connor let go of her while grabbing his left shin for a second. He watched as Catherine fell against a nearby wall and painfully slid down holding her injured shoulder. He was about to shoot her.

"What the hell?!" Connor yelled as Vincent quickly grabbing a hold of him growling low and thrown him through the double doors. Dropping both his lighter and gun as he slid through them.

"Vincent Wait!" Catherine cried out while trying to get herself off the floor again. She feared that he might do something rash as she watched him slowly stalked towards Connor growling low. Before spotting her trying to reach for the gun that Connor had and kicked it to her.

"How'd you do that?" Connor scooted himself back up against the wall. He was beside himself as he couldn't believe what had just happened. He never saw anybody with some much strength through him like that. He watched as this 'thing' started stalking towards him again. He pulled out the extra gun that hid in his shoe, taking aim and shot at it.

It took Catherine all the strength in her right shoulder to painfully raise it up just enough to shoot Connor in the chest as he was about to kill Vincent and vise versa. She was glad that Vincent moved out of the way and she was able to save him.

"You okay?" Vincent asked in his normal state after coming over to check her the wound. It wasn't bleeding, yet, thankfully.

"Yeah, I'm fine, go help Alex." Catherine quickly responded a bit surprised by his response, shouldn't he be looking for Alex instead?

* * *

"Alex! Alex!" Vincent headed back in the direction that he came from, figuring Connor came from that way and smelled Alex's scent. Coming across the pounding on the door and seeing the folded up chair shoved under the door handle. He kicked it out-of-the-way and jerked the door open.

"Help! Vincent!" Alex relieved as she heard him calling for her on the other side of the door. She started crying and pounding on the door more trying to get his attention. She was beyond relieved nearly throwing herself at him as soon as he opened the door. "I thought I'd lost you again." Alex continued as she touched his face making sure he was okay.

"You okay?" Vincent asked with concern while pulling back a little.

"Yeah." Alex nodded her head relieved not only being alive, but that Vincent saved her. He must still have feelings for her.

"Okay." Vincent quickly embraced her for a second before pulling back and was about to let go of her. When Alex unexpectedly kissed him, he started pushing her away just as he sensed Catherine approached them stating. Alex don't."

"Vince…." Alex was about to say but stopped when she saw him go over to the detective and started checking on her.

Catherine knew it was too good to be true, that Vincent would pick his fiancée over her. She felt her eyes moist as she saw him kissing his fiancée right in front of her. She had to get herself together and not let him see her cry. So she blinked her eyes a couple of times and swallowed her pride. She was about to go check on Connor's body again, but saw Vincent making his way over to her.

"You should probably go." Catherine said quickly while backing away from him as he got close to her and then started to go check on Connor's body. She wondered what Connor meant. When she told her about them wanting to use Alex to get to Vincent. Was he referring to Muirfield using Alex?

Vincent started to leave, but not before given both his ex and Catherine a concerned look before leaving. He wanted to stay with her to make sure Catherine was physically okay, but he knew that would be too much of a risk. So he said his goodbyes to Alex after he gave her the number to his burner phone and headed back to the warehouse.

* * *

"Night vision? Freakin night vision? That is so cool. And way better than a sex change." JT expressed with excitement as he playfully shook Vincent's shoulder before walking over to the fridge. He still couldn't believe the outcome of what his best friend explained to him after last night. He took out a jar of jelly while jokingly saying "Man, you'd be an ugly chick."

"Yeah, and sending you out to buy bras would've been awkward," Vincent smirked as he came back with his smart ass comment. While playfully picking his cereal out of the bowl and started eating it with his fingers. He could just see it now, JT trying to go to a lingerie store for Women bras. He was just relieved that it wasn't anything more physical changing, he wouldn't know how to handle it.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," JT placed the jar on the kitchen table before going back to the counter to grab a spoon from one of the cups. "I don't think gender reassignment is on the mutation menu." JT joked while he handed him a spoon.

Vincent thanked JT as he took the spoon from him, and started to eat his cereal again, wondering. "So, why is it happening now, then?"

"I think it's been happening for a while, we just missed the symptoms. You, roaming around on autopilot- there's a physical toll to evolving so fast." JT explained while pouring himself some coffee.

"So, what, they're basically growing pains?"

"Think about it: what you developed in a week, most species would take a million years to pull off," JT informed him.

"Yeah, well, I'm just glad it happened when it did." Vincent remarked as he smiled, thinking proudly to himself how it helped save Catherine.

"Must have felt pretty good saving Cat the way that you did," JT commented as he started fishing out the jam from the jar.

"Yeah. Yeah, it did." Vincent agreed while smiling again before taking another bite of cereal.

"How is Cat?"

"She's still a bit sore. I just wish uh, she wouldn't put herself in danger like that, you know." Vincent commented to JT with concern.

"As I said before, with you, she likes to be involved," JT mentioned while spreading his toast with jam.

"I know, but she just got out of surgery." Vincent looked at him and commented with concern again.

"Cat will do anything to protect you man, you know that."

"Yeah, and that scares me. I don't want to lose her JT." Vincent said while remembering the nightmare and what happened last night at the hospital.

"I know V, but you can't protect her forever."

"Yeah, I know," Vincent said while continuing to eat breakfast. He knew his instincts were to be protecting her, even more now since that car accident.

"So, how is Alex doing?"

"A little shaking up, but uh, better." Vincent paused for a moment. He knew that kiss Alex gave him shouldn't be bothering him, but it did. He saw the hurt look on Catherine's face. She must have got the impression that the feeling was mutual. When it wasn't, after saving her many times his feelings for his ex faded and was slowly replaced with feelings for her. "She kissed me, man, right in front of Catherine."

"Vincent," JT warned as he couldn't believe Vincent letting it go that far.

"She was just relieved that I was okay and that I, uh saved her."

"You know she's not going to let that go now, especially after finding out you're still alive," JT told him after drinking some of his coffee.

"Yeah, I know," Vincent sighed, annoyed by the fact that JT was right, but didn't want to continue any further with the conversation. So he decided to change the subject. "Anyway, aren't you late for office hours?"

* * *

After taking care of Connor's body, Catherine had to help Alex come up with a cover story to what happened without giving away Vincent's identity. She needed to make it like Connor was going after Alex from the beginning and she stayed to help her catch the prep. Luckily, one of her fellow cops found her gun and brought it to her before her boss noticed. When she went back to the precinct for questioning, Joe needed to see her in his office. It seems he wasn't pleased with her decision to check out of the hospital by herself. So much besides taking both her badge and gun, he had to put her on a restrictive duty until she is physically and emotionally up to par. Thanks to Vincent, who took it upon himself of risking exposure again. What the hell was he thinking? Calling her precinct to tell them she left the hospital without her doctor's okay.

Catherine went over to get the picture she snatched from Alex's place and took it out of the coat pocket. She looked at the picture she took from Alex's place, running her hand over the glossy picture of a much younger Vincent. He was smiling and shirtless as he stood by the beach. She was too engrossed to notice him standing out on the balcony watching her.

"I can help you with that." Vincent stood in the doorway of the balcony door. He didn't like seeing her uncomfortable as Catherine wince in pain when she slightly moved her arm. "The, uh... the dressing part."

"No, I got it." Catherine cleared her throat while quickly turning around to hide the picture behind her.

"Here, let me take a look." Vincent offered as he entered her living room and came closer to her, reaching for the button of her gray sweater to unbutton it. He started to pull back the top part of her blue shirt, but was stopped by her hand

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not." Vincent clenched his jaw as his attention went back to her wound and started to pull back the shirt again. He always dreamt of doing this undressing, touching her, but now wasn't the time. He was about to continue with what he was doing before he noticed she was trying to hide something behind her. "What do you got there? What? What is it? Show me."

Catherine let out a sigh and unwillingly showed him the picture.

"You took this?" Vincent was surprised to see her with one of his old vacation pictures. He had to smile.

"I didn't mean to. It really... it was an accident. Um…" Catherine laughed as she looked at the picture again, embarrassed by the fact she took someone else's stuff. She couldn't help it. "I don't know." She looked up at him. "I guess I, uh... I wanted to know him."

"Hey, that guy isn't completely gone, okay?"

"Not when you're with her." Catherine said with jealousy in her voice. "You and I... we came together out of some pretty dark places."

"I know and it doesn't mean that this isn't real."

"It doesn't mean that it's good." Catherine knew with his fiancee showing up it wasn't going to be good.

Vincent licked his lips. "Is this your way of dodging you and me? Think about it. You know, why are we still stuck here? You know, why don't you and me move forward?" Vincent needed to know after the talk they had at the hospital and the feelings he had for her.

"It…" Catherine laughed. She couldn't believe he suggested that after what happened earlier with his fiancée. "it's complicated."

"No, I think it's convenient that it's complicated. Remember that I've watched over you for years. I know your patterns, and you like to pick bad boys. Yeah, so you don't have to get serious. You can keep your distance. And I guess, in a way, I am the ultimate bad boy. Because I'm not really an option for you, am I?" Vincent didn't mean to sound cocky, but it was the truth. Especially being what he was.

"You want me to believe that your ex showing up doesn't change everything?" She asked him.

"It-it doesn't change us." He wanted to assure her.

"You right. I don't remember how to be close with somebody." Catherine looked down a moment hesitated before continuing. "But can you look me in the eye and tell me that you don't still have feelings for..." Catherine sighed as she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. "She still loves you, Vincent. Maybe you need to find out if you still love her."

Vincent clenched his jaw again, why was Catherine trying to be difficult about this? He can't believe she would think that he would have the same feelings for his ex like he used to. When his feelings have always been for her. Why was she trying to push him away now? Especially after the talk, they had at the hospital. He came closer to her looking down. "I don't have feelings for her, not like I used to."

"Vincent, I don't want to be a third wheel," Catherine said stepping back from him. "Or your second choice."

"You're not." He replied quickly without a second thought about it.

"Are you sure after that kiss last night?" Catherine wished she didn't sound jealous, but she was. After seeing Alex kissing him and they held each other.

"Alex kissed me..." Vincent tried to defend himself before he was cut off.

"You know what. It's fine, I-I mean she's your fiancée, right?" Catherine turned around upsetting and started to head back inside.

"She was, but not anymore." Vincent followed her inside. He remembered the kiss Evan gave her on her birthday. He was taken advantage of the situation. Figuring since Catherine was drunk, he could use that to make a move on her. "What about your birthday party?"

"That was different, I was drunk, remember." She reminded him.

"Okay, what about your dad's wedding, then?" Vincent followed her into the kitchen commenting upsetting. "You know, I show up, we had one dance, you tell me to leave."

"I had just found out you were mutating." She turned to face him with an attitude.

"No, my DNA was mutating, not me," Vincent countered and then asked. "Why are you being so difficult about this?"

"Difficult?"

"Yes." Vincent took a step closer again, he thought since they were on the subject. He needed to know. "Didn't we, uh, went through this already. You told me that even though my DNA was changing it doesn't have to change things between us."

"That was before I found out you had a fiancée," Catherine complained.

"Ex fiancée." Vincent corrected her. Is she upset because his ex showed up? He then told her. "And I told you I don't have feelings for her anymore."

"You should probably go, JT must be worried about you."

"Catherine." Vincent insisted.

"Not now Vincent," Catherine said while slowly turning her back to him. "I need some time to think." she heard him mumble an okay before she felt him leave and left out a sigh.

To be continued…..


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

(Chapter 6)

Vincent made his way over to Catherine's to check on her. He needed to make sure she was doing okay. Since what happened two days ago, she was lucky she didn't get more injured after Connor manhandled her. He was reluctant to leave her like that the night before, but Catherine wanted to be by herself and especially after witnessing the kiss Alex gave him. Before he knocked on the balcony door he watched her, as she tried to lift the dumbbell and then greeted her with hesitation. "Hi."

"Hey." Catherine stopped for a second, surprised by Vincent's sudden appearance. She figured that he would be spending some time with his fiancee especially after the kiss they shared. So to ease some tension between them, she decided to be humorous about it. "Remind me never to get shot again."

"Never get shot again," Vincent responded with a smile. He was a little unsure about coming inside, since the way things ended the night before between them. He didn't want to repeat what happen to her ever again if he can help it. Catherine greeted him by gesturing him with her hand.

Vincent thanked her while entering her living room and made his way over to where she was. He didn't like seeing her uncomfortable or in pain. "Now put the dumbbell down." He instructed her.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is going to hurt even worse?"

"Give me your hands, come on." Vincent held out his hands to her, watching Catherine hesitated a bit before grabbing a hold of his, commenting. He figured being the doctor he was he could help her, besides she needed to work on her flexibility. "You need to work on your flexibility."

"I don't remember asking you to be my personal physical therapist too." Catherine joked again, still felt a little uneasy around him.

"Okay, slightly back, that's it." Vincent watched her leaned back and started to do the same. Then seen the uncomfortable expression on her face. "Careful."

"You know, the first time I got shot in Afghanistan, I couldn't sleep for months." He mentioned remembering the time he was trying to save a civilian, but got caught in the crossfire. By shielding him with his body at the same time the bullet hit the side of his stomach, causing some internal bleeding.

"Where did you...?"

"On the left side of my stomach," Vincent explained while bringing her to him. He figured she wanted to know where he was shot at. He remembered the other ugly scar that he had, that ran down the right side of his abs. "It took a while to, uh, heal. That was before the injections started, you know."

"Right. Yeah, it's like I'm sleepwalking. I can't do anything, and they've got me on restrictive duty until I am physically and emotionally up to par." Catherine muttered unhappily while shaking her head.

"And, again," Vincent leaned back a little while she did the same. He ignored the phone as the ringing was going off and took a mental sigh. What the hell did his ex want now? He regretted giving Alex his number, but after what happened with Connor. He needed to make sure she was okay.

"You want to answer that?"

"Uh, no. I'll call her back later." Vincent could hear the unhappiness in her voice. He wished he had put the damn phone on silent, to begin with.

"Ah, Alex," Catherine said with resentment while trying to let go of his hands, but felt his large hands squeeze them tighter; like he didn't want to let go. "Really, Vincent, it's okay. I don't mind."

"Uh, but I do…" Vincent hesitated as he slowly brought Catherine towards him again. By that time he missed Alex's call. He was about to explain to her where he was with Alex in their relationship but was cut off by her. "Look, uh Catherine, the thing is…"

"You...You don't have to explain," Catherine started to pull away again. "She's your fiancée. You were planning a life together for years."

"Yeah, Alex was my fiancée and we have been planning," Vincent thought a lot about the conversation they had a couple of days ago and let go of one of her hands. "but you and me…."

"You and I are, You know, I don't know what were are." Catherine paused and shook her head a little, trying to think of what to say. She didn't really want to discuss his relationship with Alex, it wasn't a good option right now. "Vincent, what are you even doing here?"

"I wanted to, I don't know. I-I thought that maybe we could...?" Vincent stammered while still holding one of her hands and came closer to her. he tried to figure out what to say.

"We could, what?" Catherine tilted her head a little and pressed her lips together a bit confused by Vincent's comment.

"Uh, you remember the camping trip we plan before the blackouts, yeah?" Vincent mentioned and began to caress her hand. He didn't know how else to ask her, he remembered planning a nice camping trip together before, so maybe this time it could happen. "I uh, wanted to spend time together."

"You are serious, aren't you?" Catherine remarked, feeling her heart started palpitating quickly. She didn't think he seriously still considered that camping trip.

"Yeah," He pulled her close. "You know, maybe get to know each other more."

Catherine was still a little hesitant even after the incident with Alex the night before. She had to remark. "What about Alex...she still loves you, Vincent?"

"No." Vincent shook his head while continuing. "She's in love with a dead guy, I will never be that Vince Keller again. Okay." he continued on with seriousness in his voice and looked at her intensity. "I did want to marry her once, but a lot has uh, changed, you know."

"Yeah, I know but..."

"What?" Vincent could hear the concern hesitation in her voice and the uncertainty expression on her face.

"I'm just starting to get back to work." Catherine protested slipping her hand from Vincent and walked over to the fridge; to take out a bottle of water.

Vincent sensed the uncomfortable feeling from Catherine and he followed her into the kitchen. So he suggested. "So, take medical leave. You still need to recover from getting, uh, shot at."

"I know." Catherine saw the sincerity in Vincent's eyes, she knew he was being serious. She just wasn't sure how to proceed with it. He was right she did need to recover and what better way of doing that than in a relaxing setting. With a 'doctor' on hand. "I'm going to see the therapist that Joe assigned me to, later. Maybe I could request some time off."

* * *

"Alex uh, what's going on?" Vincent asked with concerned, thinking that something had serious happened again to her. He arrived at her place after leaving Catherine's, there to do one thing and that was to tell his ex besides moving on, that they can't reconnect anymore. Especially with the way, things were between Catherine and him as of this morning. He could sense the uncertainty around her when he mentioned about the trip. "Everything okay."

"Yeah, I just have something to ask you."

"Okay," He followed her into the hallway, spotting a mantle lined with memorabilia photos of them. One of them was with her parents, it made him smile a bit, remembering that moment in time. A time that was so long ago, a time that he could never get back. "There's, um, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about, too."

"When I thought you were dead, I used to fantasize about leaving New York and never coming back." Alex walked up to him. "I read about this mobile medical team that works in remote Nigeria. They travel from village to village, helping whoever needs medical care. We could do it, Vince. We could go together." She told him as she grabbed a hold of his jacket before she looked into his eyes.

"No." Vincent looked away and shook his head. He didn't want to leave Catherine just to go be with Alex, not after having them strong feelings for her. Leaving JT behind was even out of the question.

"Are you worried I'm gonna reveal your identity? Because someone could try to beat it out of me. I wouldn't say a word."

"It's about your safety, Alex" Vincent pulled away from her, Muirfield will do more than just beat the truth out of her, they will make sure she won't speak about them again.

"I know people are after you. I mean, that's why I wanted to take you halfway around the world or to Mexico, to leave it all behind." Alex saw the doubtful expression on Vincent's face and continued. "Hey, I I know there are risks, but I'm an E.R. nurse in New York City. Nothing freaks me out."

"You don't know about the risk, but I do, okay." Vincent turned away from Alex upsetting as he stood by the entrance of her living room.

"What are you CIA?!" Alex questioned him while standing in front of him and put her hands on her hips. Before taking a step closer to him. "And who is Catherine to you? Really? She's more than a handler or a friend. It's-it's personal."

"Catherine has risked her life for me, okay, so has, people have risked everything for me, Alex." Vincent shook his head, the recent relationship with Catherine, it's more than just personal. Ever since that day he saved her in the woods.

"How do you know that I won't risk everything?" Alex stated while reaching for his arm trying to stop him from leaving. Then she stepped closer to him and focused her gaze on him again. "If you don't tell me the truth about who you are?"

"If I tell you the truth? Your life could be in danger." Vincent's voice was serious as the expression on his face hardened.

"Is that's why you been acting so different lately?" She asked knowing that he never acted so distanced around her as his attention has been somewhere else. Mostly towards Catherine.

"It's because I am different Alex." He turned to face her, repeating what he said before.

"You forgot I know you better than anybody," Alex stated.

"No, you don't? You don't." Vincent countered as he pressed his lips, he looked away and shook his head again. He then started to leave; he needed to go before he would say something he'll regret later. "Now I remember why I could never win an argument."

"I'm not arguing with you, Vince." Alex went and stood in front of him trying to block him from leaving, still. "I'm fighting for you. "Listen, I've done all the research for Nigeria. I've priced the tickets. We could go. Get away from whoever or whatever is still after you." She cupped Vincent's face in her hands again, forcing him to look at her and then continued. "Just think about it."

"There's nothing to think about, Alex " Vincent pulled back from her and looked serious at her. He can never experience being a doctor again. He was being truthful when he told earlier her that he made peace with the only dark corner place, the warehouse. If it wasn't for JT, he wouldn't know what would have happened to him, and he probably wouldn't have met Catherine either. He still wanted to get back to the warehouse and still pack for the trip.

"Does your handler not think it's a good idea?" Alex questioned him figuring that's why he's not considering, maybe she needed to get the okay from the detective first.

"I'm sorry Alex, but I have to go," Vincent told her while leaving for the warehouse. He would never consider Catherine as a handler.

* * *

Catherine didn't feel any better visiting the therapist that Joe assigned her to. She knew how it would play out, the sooner she would spill her heart out to him the better, and she could do without the self-reflective crap. She had enough therapy to last her a lifetime when her mom was killed and didn't need a shrink to figure out what her problems were. Her problem right now was trying to compete with both Vincent and his fiancee growing up with the 6 years together. Alex didn't know the darker side of him. Would she be a bitch for wanting Vincent to pick her and ignore the totally perfect, caring woman that he planned on spending his life with?

"Second, what's mandatory, is for us to discuss the trauma that you went through during the shooting, not your boyfriend issues." Dr. Taylor took a pen and pad off his desk and was about to scribble down notes. He knew the situation of someone hiding their feelings and sometimes it could take a turn for the worse if not taken care of right away. "If you're doing it to escape dealing with your true feelings..."

"Right." Catherine took a deep breath as she felt the knot in her stomach. She thought about the suggestion Vincent gave her earlier. The same camping trip he suggested before the blackouts, both of them needed much time together. "Um, I could do with some more time to recover."

"Oh," The therapist leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. He looked on with interest. "Something tells me that there's more?"

"Yeah, I was hoping maybe, I don't know, you could mention a leave of absence to my boss." Catherine took a seat across from the therapist a bit hesitant. She wasn't sure what else to say, but..."It'll give me time to reflect on what happened with the shooting and all."

"Mm-hmm." The therapist commented as he continued to observe her before posting the next thoughtful question carefully and was about to scribble down the letter, but hesitated. "And you'll be going alone? It could be a bit dangerous for you to go..."

"No, I-I have a friend that's an uh, doctor," Catherine told him while she nervously twisted the cap on a bottle of water she had in her hand.

"I see." The therapist nodded while acknowledging the answer, he only knew of one doctor that nearly saved her life on the road and also was her coworker, so he asked. "Dr. Marks? Is it?"

"Oh No, Doctor..."

"Oh, Dr. David Taylor, but you can call me David." He informed her.

"No um," Catherine nervously cleared her throat thinking of Vincent and the fake last name she gave him for her dad's wedding. "Dr. Zalanski, he's an E.R Doctor from, um Denver and been in town for a while. We have a lot to catch up on."

Dr. Taylor considered the thought for the moment. Her mental health was just as important as her physical health, she must really trust this person to ask for some time off. "As long as you are in a doctor's care, take as much time you need." He continued while making notations on the notebook in front of him.

Catherine thanked the therapist with a big, settling breath that she held onto since coming into his office. She really didn't want to be there in the first place, especially after getting a lifetime of therapy when her mom was killed. Them trying to get her to think it was just the result of her concussion or post-traumatic stress. That some wild animal did it, but in reality, it was Vincent, the beast that therapists kept theorizing telling her it was a coyote or a bear. She thought about spending her upcoming weekend with Vincent. The excitement of being alone with him, since she found out about him and then the wedding. She was too busy thinking about packing to notice Alex walking up behind her.

"Catherine?" Alex was surprised to see her here at the hospital and not at home where she should be resting.

"Alex. Hey, hi." Catherine greeted her with a fake smile while approaching the elevator. Not wanting to deal with her right now, she needed to still get home and pack for her trip.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just finished seeing the therapist get some time off." She was about to hit the down button on the elevator, but stop as Alex came closer to her. "Um, so, what's up?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask it is would it be okay to take Vincent away for the weekend?" Alex stood smiling while nervously twisting her fingers like she did when after seeing Vincent the first time after her accident.

"Um..." Catherine opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Alex's babbling.

"Because I know about his work in Special-Ops. And that people have it out for him." Alex blabbed on without letting Catherine interrupted and nodded her head knowingly.

"This weekend?" Catherine repeated what Alex just asked her. Had they already made plans together and Vincent forgot to tell her. What the hell was going on now?

"I hope that's okay. I mean, we were engaged once." Alex stated matter-of-factly while smiling again. She figured maybe if she had to check with Catherine before going further with any of her plans with Vincent.

"Um, so did he tell you anything else?" Catherine looked at Alex with her brows drew together.

"Uh, you mean that everyone is supposed to think he's dead?" Alex glanced away to think for a moment before looking back at Catherine. She wasn't sure what she meant by that, so she asked. "Is there more?"

"No…..." Catherine hesitated she wasn't about to tell her about Vincent already making plans with her. She walked back over to the elevator and press the down button. She didn't like where this conversation was heading, did Vincent forget to inform his former fiancee that he already made plans with her.

"I'm still not really clear what the rules are, because you're his handler..." Alex mentioned while stepping closer to her again and brushed her hair aside.

"Uh, uh." Catherine hesitated not sure how to proceed with the conversation. Obviously, Alex got the impression of asking for some kind of permission for taking Vincent away. She still thought she was his handler.

"My family has a cabin upstate. It's totally isolated. It would just be the two of us." Alex stated smiling excitedly again.

"Just the two of you?" Catherine thought about all the images of Vincent's letters and the pictures came flowing back in her mind. Thinking if she should even consider the camping trip with Vincent now.

"It was our favorite place. You know, before..." Alex gave a smile again remembering them moments with Vincent before he was enlisted and thinking about what kind of catching up she would like to do with him. "And we have a lot to catch up on."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Catherine muttered before giving Alex a fake smile while impatiently waiting for the elevator. Which seemed to take forever.

"Yeah, It's just... strange. I've, uh, never had to share him before." Alex remarked with jealousy in her voice and the corner of her mouth quirked up. She was trying to see if she could get a response from Catherine on that.

"Uh, I'm sorry Alex, I have to go." Catherine forced another pleasant smile and entered the waiting elevator. She waited for the doors to close before leaned against the wall and let out a slight moan. She really wasn't in the mood to have her heart played with again after the last couple of boyfriends she had. Who turned out to be jerks. Like she told Vincent before she didn't remember how to be close with somebody. Why was she even trying to compete with Alex? Maybe it's because she still had hope that Vincent was interested in her since he kept insisting he didn't have feelings for Alex anymore. She needed to let him know what his ex intentions were.

* * *

"How does a guy who's unemployed, never goes out and is officially dead, gets not one, but two smoking hot women fighting for his attention, again?" JT couldn't get over the fact Alex wanted Vincent to go away for the weekend with her. After he tried explaining to Alex that they couldn't be together.

"JT, I went over there to tell her that I can't see her anymore," Vincent remarked as he stood by the edge of his bed, folding up one of his long sleeve shirts and placing it in his green duffel bag.

"Because…" JT began while watching as his best friend turned to him and nodded his head knowingly. He already knew the answer, but acknowledged it anyway. "Because of Catherine."

"Yeah." Vincent paused what he was doing and smiled a bit while thinking about her. "Yeah. I mean, Catherine's life has never been the same since she found out about me. And my secret. Neither has yours. You and, Catherine, you risk so much to keep me safe." He admitted.

"And you know you can't take the same risks with Alex," JT stated while going back to his computer and scrolled through another set of cabin pictures.

"I know man, but I do have to tell Alex about Catherine and me?" Vincent went back to packing his duffel bag as he placed a set of his clothes inside.

"Vincent," JT warned him since they already talked about this before. Knowing how Alex will react if she finds out how close they become over the last couple of months. Even after watching Catherine over those 10 years, not to mention that Muirfield was still out there and will go after whoever knows about him.

Vincent stopped what he was doing and walked over to where JT was and place his hands in the pocket of his jeans. "Look, I know what you're going to say, okay, but JT, to have Alex look at me, thinking as if there may still be a chance for us and not having the same feelings for her, you know."

"Like you do with Catherine?"

"Yeah, JT, I did love Alex. We spent our whole childhoods planning everything, and then uh...I don't, I don't know," Vincent paused smiling a bit thinking about the dance at the wedding, and the closeness of their bodies. The way Catherine felt against him as they dance. "I guess when Catherine came along it had changed and that's why I want to take her away this weekend."

JT continued to look through the cabins available for a night and found a nice secluded one in the woods. Somewhere in the Saranac Lake is surrounded by the forested regions of McKenzie Mountain and Adirondack State Park. "How about this one?"

"Wow!" Vincent leading over his shoulder and a relaxing smile came across his face when he saw the picture of the cabin that JT picked out for them. A romantic, one-room log cabin located in Adirondack State Park in Northern New York that accommodates two guests. "Thanks, man," Vincent laid his hand on his friend's shoulder as a grateful gesture

"So, you did you tell Catherine how you feel yet? Maybe that's why she's backing off?" JT questioned him going back to the subject at hand, wondering if Catherine was feeling a little uneasy when Alex came into the picture.

"No man, but I'm going to tell her..." Vincent assured JT and was on his way back over to his duffle bag to finish packing. When he heard the beating of her heart before hearing Catherine's voice.

"Tell me what?"

"All you, my friend," JT said while getting up to leave, so he can give his best friend some privacy with Catherine.

"Hey, What's going on?" Vincent greeted Catherine with a half-smile but then seen the concern look on her face. "What?"

"I ran into Alex at the hospital."

"Okay." He knew something else was wrong by the way she kept pressing her lips together.

"Vincent, she wanted to know if it was okay to take you away this weekend."

"I can't believe she did that." Vincent clenched his jaw while running his hand through his hair and glanced around. How could she just assume that? He didn't agree on going with her, it seems Alex was still stuck on Catherine being his handler even after the talk they had earlier.

"So, you're going?" Catherine assumed.

"No," Vincent answered while stepping closer to her and seeing the uncertain on her face. That was the last thing he wanted to do to spend some time with someone he barely knew anymore.

"Obviously, Alex thinks you are."

"Catherine, Alex was part of my old life, okay. I'm sorry she came to you and asked for permission" Vincent looked down at her giving her a reassuring expression. "Besides JT already picked out a cabin for us."

"A cabin?" Catherine raised an eyebrow, did she hear Vincent right? That JT went out of his way to book a cabin for both of them. So there's still hope that JT trusts her more than he did when he first met her.

"Yeah. it's in, uh, upstate New York." Vincent watched as the lines on her forehead wrinkled, he could tell she was still a little uncertain about the situation. "I am going to tell her, don't worry. okay." Vincent kisses her forehead before walking her to the door.

"Okay." Catherine looked up and gave a gentle smile.

"I could come by your place tomorrow and uh, pick you up." Vincent offered her since he knew where the location of the cabin was.

"No it's fine, I'll meet you back at the warehouse." Catherine insisted while putting her hand on the sleeve of the jacket. She wasn't going to have him risk being seen by her sister or by Muirfield for that matter not in broad daylight anyway. "It'll be safer that way."

"Okay, then," Vincent responded relaxed and gave a dimpled smile. He watched Catherine return the smile and watched her leave the warehouse; before going back to finish his packing. Pleased with the fact that he'll get much needed alone time with Catherine.

* * *

"I thought Connor was supposed to take care of the fiancee." The female-voiced said over the phone.

"I told him just to take care of her and leave Detective Chandler to us." Replied Agent Warren with attitude as he leaned over his desk and sorting through the report. Then he pulled out a picture from the folder.

"Well now, Connor is dead because he didn't want to listen." She ranted on over the phone before pausing for a moment as if to think of something and then she continued. "What do we do now?"

"Maybe we need to go back to the wrong tactics with Ms. Chandler." Agent Warren stated as he sat back in his office and looked at the picture in front of him. He remembered when one of his fellow agents were killed by Vincent after trying to kidnap the detective. Maybe this time they'll try another approach.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, what would have happened if his ex knew Keller was watching another woman all these years….." Warren answered while looking at a picture of a much younger Alex Salter.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." The woman's voice sounded harsh over the phone.

"Exactly Claire, make up whatever story you want, but you have to gain her trust first to get to Keller. Then get rid of her." Agent Warren ordered her while a sinister smile came across his face and then hung up the phone.

To be continued...

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait again, but right now I'm working on another new story and my other one fanfic still 'Catch Me'. So I'm still in the process of continuing though, so please keep the reviews coming still and hanging in there good people. I hope you are still enjoying it as I am writing it.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

Update: I made a few corrections to the story, that I didn't notice before.

(Chapter 7)

"Tess, it's okay. I just really need some time alone right now." Catherine told her partner while putting another set of clothes in the overnight bag. She needed to let her partner know the amount of time she was taking off and where she was heading off to. Just because she didn't want to worry Tess as much.

"At least ask Evan to go with you." Tess suggested, figuring Catherine would need a doctor's care while she's away at the cabin.

"Tess, I'll be fine, trust me." Catherine insisted on exaggeration in her voice while heading to her bureau to get some makeup and jewelry. The last thing she needed was to have Evan with her, trying to come onto her as he did on her birthday. She didn't want him to take things further, especially his feelings for her. "Besides I won't be going alone."

"You won't?" Tess' voice sounded interested.

Catherine let out a sigh, knowing her partner wasn't to let it go easy on getting answers. So she told her. "No, uh you remember that fake boyfriend I told you about before."

"The one you made up, yeah."

"Well,... he's not fake" Catherine informed her while holding up the picture of Vincent and her dancing at her father's wedding. The one with Vincent's arms was around her waist, holding her close against him swaying to the music. Looking up at him and seeing his eyes smoldering her with intensity. He looked incredibly sexy in that tuxedo that night. She finally convinced Heather that she wanted the picture for herself and managed to get her not to post his particular pictures online. Saying the reason being he was dealing with certain things, mainly his ex. Which she added tends to be a little jealous at the moment and Heather seemed satisfied with that answer.

"But didn't you tell Brooke and the bridesmaids that he wasn't real..." Tess's voice sounded confused over the phone.

"Yeah I know, but I only told them that, because they kept threatening to put me at the singles table." She said truthfully, thinking of the best explanation she could come up with and continued. "Besides we're still navigating, you know, where we are exactly in the relationship." Which was also true at the moment.

"Still navigating where you are exactly?" Tess responded with an incredulous voice while raising an eyebrow. She knew something was up with her best friend.

"Yeah, you know how long-distance relationships can be." Catherine responded trying to make sure she had enough clothes for the trip.

"Not exactly, but go on." Tess inquired as she never really experienced that type of relationship besides Joe.

"Tess," Catherine stressed over the phone, not wanting to go further with that conversation.

"Wait." Tess paused as if she just realized something. "Isn't that the same doctor that called a couple of days ago…."

"Yes," Catherine interrupted and rolled her eyes. She remembered the chance Vincent had taken when he called the precinct on her leaving the hospital, she needed to talk to him about it still.

"And how did you meet him again?" Tess inquired again through the phone, leading into her desk with interest. She thought she knew her best friend better and the guys who she was dating. Apparently that wasn't the case anymore.

"Well, I had this huge crush on him since kindergarten." Catherine lied, noticing the time on her clock radio. It was nearly time for her to meet Vincent back at the warehouse.

"I'm sorry Tess, but I got to go." She hastily hung up the phone before Tess could respond, not wanting to deal with her partner's 20 questions right now. She took another look around, making sure she got everything before going into the bathroom to check herself. She grabbed the hairbrush off the shelf, brushed her hair back again and applied some light makeup to her face. She knew she really didn't need any, but she wanted to look good for Vincent. She checked the black lace top with the tight ass blue jeans she had on. Then carefully grabbed her bag and red leather coat before grabbing the keys off the counter before heading out. She was thankful that Heather decided to go over to her friend's place and stayed there for a few days, this way she didn't have to explain a lot to her sister. She knows if her sister sees her with a guy, she Googles him down to his high school yearbook. Which tends to be annoying at times. On her way out she was about to lock her door when one of her neighboring tenants greeted her with a smile.

"Weekend getaway? Going somewhere fun? Romantic again?" Mrs. Garrison inquired with a smile, watching Catherine closed her door and locked it.

"Yeah, actually this time it is." Catherine paused and thought about the last time she bumped into her neighborhood. It was before Vincent had the blackouts and they were going camping that evening. At that time they were starting to get their friendship back on track, now was a different reason for the trip, to move forward with their friendship and see where it takes them. So she smiled and commented. "Fun and hopefully romantic too,"

"Ah." Mrs. Garrison gave her a knowing look, she never saw Catherine so content since her mother was murder. Whoever she was spending time with must have been making her happy.

"I need some time to recover, so uh, I figured a nice retreat at a cabin in Adirondack State Park would be nice away from here. It'll be for a couple of days." Catherine explained while putting her keys back in her purse. Then said her goodbyes to Mrs. Garrison, who told her to be careful with all the craziness that's been going on with the world today. She assured her that she will be just fine and well taken care of by her 'doctor' friend.

* * *

Vincent waited for Alex standing in the alleyway wearing his black baseball cap and had the collar of his wool coat up. As he continued to wait for Alex to go to lunch, his ears started picking up people talking to one another while approaching their cars coming back from the hospital. Listening to them commenting about their friends and loved ones, whether they were going to make it or not. Whether it was because they were in an accident or because they had cancer and it was never easy. He remembered when he used to do his residency there at the hospital and how good it felt helping people. Still thanks to Muirfield and their screw-ups, Vincent can never experience being a doctor again. He pulled the collar of his coat up to block out the wind as it blew against his clothing and tousled his hair a little. A few hours later he watched her exit the building using the side door, then made his move.

"Vincent?" Alex made a gasp as he quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her with him behind one of the hospital trash bins.

"We need to talk, Alex." Vincent said earnestly to her with his lips pressed together.

"What about me talking to Catherine?" Alex inquired ambivalently in her voice, she could tell by Vincent's tone in his voice that he wasn't pleased. Catherine probably confronted him already about the cabin ideal.

"Yeah, you didn't have to go and uh, asked Catherine permission about going away together."

"I-I thought maybe I had to check with her before..." Alex tried to explain, but Vincent didn't want to hear it right now.

"Uh, no you didn't..." Vincent stepped away for a moment briefly cupping the back of the neck with one of his hands and turned to face her. "there's probably some things we should talk about."

"Okay?" Alex softened her voice and gazed on with focus.

"Well uh, Catherine and I..." Vincent continued to hesitate, struggling to find the right words to explain things to her without hurting her feelings. He knew how Alex can be when pursuing things. He didn't like the fact she kept trying to interfere with Catherine and his time together.

"What? Talk to me Vince." Alex never saw Vincent this frustrated before with her. Her heart grew nervous, pounded against her chest as she came closer to him and reached her hand out to touch his arm.

"Okay, I uh, I'm going away with her." Vincent mentioned it to her while stepping back from Alex. Even though JT didn't think it was a good idea at the time, he had to tell her, to make it clear what was going on.

"With your handler?" Alex looked at him with an incredulous stare.

Vincent retorted, clenching his jaw, trying carefully controlling his voice and tone. "I told you Alex, Catherine is a close friend. Not my handler!"

"On My God!" Alex covered her mouth with her fingers in shock. It was true that something was going on between them. "It is personal."

"Yes. We were, uh, planning this for some time, before the accident." He told her honestly, even if it was before the stupid blackouts. He wished had never occurred but was relieved when both JT and Catherine figured how to fix the problem.

"But-but, you know how much I love you." Alex's lower lip quivered while taking hold of his jacket and started to press her body against him. Begging him not to leave her again. "and want to be with you."

"Yes, I do and that's the…...uh problem." Vincent started to push her away, he should have figured that she would react this way. She can be a little too obsessive at times. "I don't anymore."

"Vince." Alex muttered while forcefully grabbing his arm trying to stop him from leaving.

"I'm sorry Alex, but we can't do this anymore." Vincent stated pulled his arm away from her reach, and stalked off, exiting the alley.

"No." Alex stood shocked still at what just happened, how could her fiancée fall in love with someone else. When it's always been them together since childhood, she couldn't comprehend it, when they grew up and were planning a life together. How could Vince not love her anymore?

* * *

Catherine took her usual precautions when coming to the warehouse, parking her car far away and making sure she wasn't followed. She parked her car this time on the other side of the plant towers that sat on the property, hiding from plain viewing. She decided to leave the bag she got from the grocery store and her overnight suitcase in the trunk of her car. It felt more comfortable to her this time, coming inside the warehouse felt different this time for some reason. Probably because she was used to it by now. Just like the first time she came to the warehouse and found him. The clanking sound of her heels on a metal set of stairs echoed through the empty space while climbing the stairs to his loft. He stood by the shelves trying to hide from her when she confronted him, he looked so lost and lonely at the time. She did mean what she said to him that day, that he did look pretty good for a dead guy, handsome and sexy as hell. Every time she kept thinking about spending some time alone with Vincent, she recalled what Connor said before about Muirfield getting to him. She grew more worried about the outcome of the conversation and hoped by getting away with Vincent will help her to relax more. She went up another set of stairs and her heart started pounding more as she reached the top floor of Vincent's loft. That's when she just noticed JT sitting at a table over by one the shelves, looking through some papers. She approaching the table. and asked. "JT, Where's Vincent?"

"I'm assuming with Alex." JT guessed, going through papers on his desk, looking for something.

"With Alex?!" Catherine's voice was worried, he already exposed himself to once and now it's in the middle of the day. Had Alex made him do another reckless thing that the rest of them have to protect him from.

"Yeah, he said he had to go see Alex before you guys left." JT looked up at her and could see the uncertainty on Catherine's face. "What?"

"We're about to leave for the trip." Catherine ran her hand frustrated through her hair again. She figured that Vincent would want them to get a head start before it gets dark. "I don't think it was such a good idea. Why didn't you stop him?"

"I tried, but he insisted on going to talk to her." JT answered while continuing to grade the test papers from his students.

"And I've tried calling him, but he's not picking up his burner." Catherine complained.

"Maybe he didn't want to get distracted while he was talking to Alex." JT told her as he looked up at her, shrugging his shoulders before going back to grading the papers again.

"Seriously." Catherine sighed heavily, worrying still something may happen to him.

"What's wrong?" JT looked concerned, something was bothering Catherine or she wouldn't be this edgy being here.

"Nothing, I'm okay."

"You're sure? You seem a little edgy than usual." JT commented, looking on with concern like something was bothering her still.

"Yes. I'm-I'm just concerned, what if something happens to him after the night before..." Catherine couldn't bring herself to wonder if what Connor said before, about Muirfield getting to him, was true and by using Alex.

"JT, I'm back man, has..." Vincent announced while entering his loft and stopped in his tracks when he saw her standing by JT. "Catherine."

"Hi" Catherine greeted him with a smile and her heart rate went up a bit.

"Hey, you're ready?" Vincent came closer to her and looked down at her with concern. Either she was excited to see him or something was troubling her.

"Yeah. So how did Alex take it when you told her?" Catherine asked while watching him go over to his bed.

"She took it as well as she could." Vincent simply said while closing his bag up, knowing how his ex was going to react when he finally did tell her. He walked back over to where Catherine was and took her hand in his. "If it means that we get to spend more time together..."

"Yeah, there's that." Catherine gave him an uncertain expression, she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't think that Alex would just be okay with some woman spending some time with her fiancée. Especially after wanting to go away with him.

"You okay?" Vincent looked at her with concern and gently squeezed her hand. He could hear the pounding of her heart loudly. He knew something else was bothering her.

"Yeah, yeah just a little excited about the trip that's all." She lied while giving him a reassuring smile and tried to slow her heartbeat down.

"Uh-huh." Vincent continued to look down at her, he wasn't sure if she was telling him the whole reason.

"I'm okay." Catherine held his gaze while looking up at him and assured him. "Really."

"You guys better head up there before it gets too dark, then." JT suggested after a long pause from both of them gazing at one another. He didn't need the beast's senses to know the sexual tension going on between them. Ever since his best friend met her all his attention and time have been with her. Even when he was against them being together, he realized Catherine will do anything to protect him. Especially when he turned himself into Muirfield at that time. He knew after that and before the blackouts his friend had feelings for her. He just wished he would have expressed it better.

"You're right man." Vincent tore his eyes away from Catherine for a moment to answer his best friend, letting go of her hand and went back over to his bad.

"Don't forget to text me when you guys get there, big guy."

"Yes, fine, okay." Vincent teased as he grabbed his bag off the bed and headed back over to where Catherine stood.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure that you guys are safe, that's all." JT called out as they headed towards the door.

"I know man," Vincent replied to JT while grabbing taken a hold of her hand. He looked down at Catherine asking before exiting his loft with her beside him. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Catherine answered while following him outside and headed for her car. She watched Vincent place their bags in the trunk of the car before coming around to where she stood.

"Hey, uh let me drive, okay," Vincent suggested.

"Why, are you afraid I might get us lost?" Catherine joked, giving him a teasing smile.

"Uh, no. It's just since I know where the place is..." Vincent stated while coming over towards her. It was just a better option since she was still coming over an injury, he didn't want her to injury herself more. He continued with a pleasant smile. "and I uh wanted it to be a surprised."

"Right." Catherine returned the smile as she dug through her coat pocket and fished out her keys, handing them to Vincent and watched him enter the driver's seat. Before getting into the passenger side.

* * *

Claire waited a couple of minutes for Vincent to leave his fiancée, stunned and shocked. So she could have the opportunity to talk to her and help Muirfield out with catching their 'experiment' giving this was a perfect time. Catching Alex off guard saying to her. "The guy who you thought you knew, isn't the same anymore. That's why he's not going away with you."

"I'm-I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about" Alex wiped her tears away and turned around taken by surprise. She needed to get back to work.

Claire took a step closer to Alex and stood in front of her. Blocking her from leaving she said with a low voice. "Look you wanna know why he hasn't shown up after 9 years."

"What are you talking about?" Alex was still flabbergasted by the woman's accusation of Vincent's disappearing from her life.

"Don't you want to know why he hasn't come back to you?" Claire decided to approach the statement from a different angle. She figured maybe if she can convince her that Vincent rather be pursuing another woman then to be with his own fiancee. Then she can get the fiancee to take care of the detective.

"Who are you?" Alex wasn't sure how this person knows about her relationship with Vincent. Who was this woman?

"Someone who knows Catherine and knows about Vincent...the way he's been following her around and watching her."

"Following her around?" Alex gave the woman a confused look, what the hell was she talking about?

"Alex, he's been pursuing that detective over the last 10 years you thought he was dead." Claire insisted, hoping to convince her.

"No." Alex with a disbelieving voice shook her head while taking a step back. She needed a moment to process the information. She wondered if this was the reason why Vincent's been acting so strangely around her. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because you know how he is when he's around her. The way he looks at her and talks to her." Claire lied, taking Alex and pulled her to the side away from the hearing range.

"No, that can't be true." Alex shook her head again refusing to believe that her Vincent would ever be interested let alone attractive to someone else.

"You do want that, don't you? To have the man you fell in love with back?" Claire asked as she could tell by the look on her face that she was uncertain by it.

"Yeah, but..."

"Alex, his attention for that cop…..they'll only grow more and more serious. It's only a matter of time before you lose Vincent to her." Claire's voice sounded malicious as she reached into her purse, pulling out the handgun that was there. "Unless you take matters into your own hands." She handed her the gun. "Here, take this. You might need it." She saw the uncertainty on Alex's face and knew she was having second thoughts about it, so she came up with another plan. She pulled out the business card from Muirfield and handed it to her. "Here's a number to some people that can help get rid of any evidence. Just tell them Claire suggested."

Alex was hesitant at first, not wanting to face the fact that her fiancee was pursuing someone else. Still, how can she explain the time he just showed up at the hospital after detective Chandler's accident. It was sure as hell wasn't because of her being there. She noticed the way he's been looking at the detective too, it was the same way he used to look at her and realized that this woman had a point. She gripped the gun tighter in her hands, feeling the cool metal against her skin and the weight of it. She didn't know where he was taking the detective, the corner of her mouth quirked up as an idea came to her. In order to get her Vince back, she must get rid of the problem and that problem was Catherine Chandler. She wasn't going to lose him again like she did when he went off to war all those years ago.

To be continued….

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, but real life got in the way again and I'm still in the process of continuing though. I've been switching between writing updates for both stories. Don't worry the next couple of chapters will have Vincent and Catherine's relationship moving forward as it should be. Please keep the reviews coming still and let me know what you guys think so for.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't claim or own anyone characters from Beauty and the Beast that I mentioned, they are all owned by the CW.

(Chapter 8)

"I really did mean what I uh, said before about wanting to get away from all of this with you, you know." Vincent told her while trying to keep his eyes on the road, but the sound of her rapid heartbeat was distracting him. The drive to the cabin from New York city took a little over 5 hours as they approached Cedar Woods, heading in the direction of Adirondack State Park in Northern New York. They rode through the dense abandoned road on their way to a long overdue cabin trip.

"I know." Catherine replied as she looked out the passenger side window and saw the sky was beginning to get darker. She knew it was because of the blackouts that halted their time and possibly whatever that was going to transpire that day. Especially after that long conversation they had on the fire escape the night before. How Vincent was so worried about both JT and her becoming collateral damage, that he would sacrifice himself. It seemed he wanted to spend more and more time with her after the last couple of months. The more she got to know him, the more she wanted to spend time with him and even in secret. He was worth it. She continued watching him as he was about to come up onto some paved road, the gravel crackled under the tires as they rode along. Before the both of them noticed a one story wooden log cabin with a window on each side of the front door and a small porch in front. She exited the car with Vincent and stood in front, admiring the cute little log cabin and the surrounding beauty.

"So, what do you think?" Vincent asked as he came up beside Catherine after getting the bags from the trunk of the car and walked around to where she stood.

"It's beautiful, Vincent," Catherine took in the sight before her again and then turned smiling up at him. "it looks cozy."

"Yeah, yeah it does." Vincent agreed while returning the smile as he put his arm around her and led her to the small porch. He took the key out of his coat pocket that JT picked up on his way home yesterday from work and unlocked the door. "After you." He gestured Catherine inside with his other hand.

As they entered the log cabin they noticed the interior had a country style feel to it. In the great room, sat a medium size marble fireplace with an overstuffed leather couch that was in front of it. A throw blanket was folded over the back of the couch along with decorative pillows on each end. Two white candles sat on top of the fireplace mantel and the typical accessories a pile of logs, hearth a shovel and poker sat on the side of the fire gate. There were two end tables on either side of the sofa with decorative lamps sat on them. In front of the fireplace laid a Native American style area rug and behind the couch was a one bedroom with a queen sized bed. A small nightstand sat beside the bed with a wooden style medium size dresser that sat against the wall. There was a one full bathroom stood off to the right hand side with a toilet, a sink, a double shower, linens and towels filled up the shelves. The kitchen itself was fully equipped with a refrigerator, a stove, and an oven. They continued to wander inside, the dining room, which was medium size, had a dark colored dining table and chairs.

"You okay?" Vincent asked after they unpacked what they needed from their luggage and placed the stuff on the floor. She seemed quieter than usual and her heart was racing like crazy. He could sense that something was bothering her after they left the warehouse. Was Catherine still uneasy about Alex trying to pursue him? He had to reassure her that wasn't to be the case anymore, there were other things he needed to get off his chest and feelings that he couldn't hold back much longer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Catherine lied while trying to calm her anxiety down, but she was still concerned about Connor's last warning before getting shot at and how there was a chance for Muirfield to track him down. She was glad she decided to take that extra medical leave, hopefully it will help her relax a bit.

"Okay. Thank you for, uh, for coming."

"Of course." Catherine replied while placing the brown paper bag she got from the mini market around her way.

"What's this?" Vincent inquired while walking over to where Catherine placed the open paper bag on the kitchen table and peeked inside.

"Oh that, well you still owe me a dinner date." Catherine smiled pleasantly at him.

"A dinner date?" Vincent raised an eyebrow at her, not sure what she was talking about.

"Um, the one that you were supposed to have come on my birthday." Catherine reminded him.

"Ah." Vincent remembered that night, he was heading towards her place and about to stop by one of the newspaper stands. He wanted to pick up a bouquet of flowers for her, that's when the stupid ass blackouts started blocking any chance to enjoy the evening and celebrate a birthday with her.

"I figured since it'll be just the two of us. "Catherine looked up at him with a smile. "It'll be the perfect time."

"Right." Vincent looked down at her returning the smile.

"Why don't you go get some wood for the fire?" Catherine suggested as she started to get the food prepared. "And I'll have the food ready by then."

"I just got to text JT first and let him know we made it, okay." Vincent said while taking his cell out and texted him so he knows they made it to the cabin. Before going outside to gather some of the wood. He needed this time to figure out what to say to Catherine. Maybe after they have dinner, since his social skills weren't that great anymore.

* * *

Alex arrived at Catherine's apartment, hoping to confront her before she left for the cabin with Vincent. She decided to leave the hospital earlier saying she had an emergency with one of her clients. She slowly approached the door to her apartment, shaking out both hands, before placing one inside her open purse and wrapped her fingers around the handle of the gun. Her other hand began knocking on the door a couple of times and got no answer. That's when she started pacing in front of the door restlessly, she must have missed her and Vincent. She tried to figure out what to do next.

"Ms. Chandler isn't home." One of the tenants stated while watching the young redhead pace in front of Catherine's door nervously. "She left a few minutes ago."

"Oh I uh, I just needed to see Detective Chandler. It's important." Alex answered the older woman with the long brunette curly hair.

"Well, she's not here right now." The woman told her, watching Alex while she kept twisting her fingers like she was nervous about something.

"You wouldn't know where she has gone? Do you?"

"She said she was heading up to a cabin somewhere in Adirondack State Park." The woman looked at her a bit concerned, since she was going to be with a doctor friend. "Why?"

"Oh, I just want to um check on her and see if she's alright." Alex said while giving the woman a concern look, trying to find a believable lie to tell her. So she told her. "I'm Alexandra Salter from New York General. I was one of the nurse's that tended to Ms. Chandler after the accident."

"Oh I see, I'm sure she'll be okay. It'll be for a couple of days tho."

"Well it's a policy for me to go check on my patients, so uh, I can notify her doctor." Alex explained with another lie, she wanted the lady to believe that she was there for legit reason.

"I see, well she mentioned that she was going to be with a doctor friend of hers." The woman looked at her questionably, either her nurse was that clueless or there wasn't much communication between them. Which worried her a bit more.

"Oh really, he must have forgotten to mention it to me earlier." Alex replied, trying to sound honest about it, but was disappointed that she missed Catherine leaving.

"He must have."

"Uh, well thank you." Alex told her politely while quickly heading for the elevator and entered. She waited for the doors to close, so she could take out her cellphone and typed in Google search for cabins in Adirondack State Park in Northern New York. It came up with one near the McKenzie Mountains, it was about a 5 hour drive from here. She remembered the business card Claire had given her earlier and started dialing the number. "Hi, Ms. Claire gave me this number, she said you're the people to call when I found the location." She exited the elevator and headed for a parked car. "I'm about to head out there now."

* * *

"The plan is in motion, Ms. Salter took the bait." Claire told Agent Warren as she entered the room at the Beau Monde hotel and locked the door behind her. She was just informed by one of the agents that Keller's fiance did call to give them the location and how she got the information. "It won't be long now until we'll have Mr. Keller."

"Excellent." Agent Warren's voice sounded pleased through the phone and then paused for a moment. He needed to know something. "So, how did you manage to convince her?"

"I just told her the truth, that Keller has been following the detective around all those years while she was grieving for him." Claire smirked while taking off her high heel shoes.

"And where did you get that type of information from." He questioned her, wondering how she obtained that. When Muirfield didn't find out until now that he still was alive.

"I have an informant that knows one of the beggars off the street around her apartment building. He told me that they have spotted him around there, mainly on the roof across the street." She told him, remembering Jeff giving her the detailed description of Mr. Keller and how he's been jumping long distanced on top of the roof a couple of times now.

"Interesting." Agent Warren sat back in his chair behind his desk and rubbed his chin.

"Hopefully by the time the rest of the team show up, Ms. Salter would have already taken care of the detective for us." Claire said proudly as she unbuttoned her coat.

"She better Ms. Sinclair or it'll be your ass on the line." Agent Warren said threatening through the phone.

"Oh don't worry, She has more than good reason for wanting to get rid of Ms. Chandler." Claire smiled through the phone,

"We'll see. I already notify the team and they're on their way there." He told her.

"Good then I'll see to it that she'll bring him here, after she tranq him." Claire told her boss as she went to her suitcase, taking out the small silver briefcase and set it on the table.

* * *

"Wow, not only did it smell great, but tasted good too." Vincent complimented on the dinner that Catherine made while taking a seat on the couch. He sorry he did miss out on the birthday dinner with her before.

"You're not just saying that, are you?" Catherine teased after finishing up on drying the dishes and then took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Uh, no." Vincent answered her in a serious voice while giving her a pleasant smile. "it was great."

"Good, because it's been like a while since I made it." Catherine was a bit surprised about how the chicken alfredo with the broccoli recipe came out. Since the last attempt was a waste, but she made use of the situation by having leftovers.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, uh, that missed that opportunity with you." Vincent looked away, unable to meet her eyes, embarrassed by the way he had treated her after that day. If only he would have told her the truth why he didn't show. He just felt a little jealous after seeing Evan kiss her and her enjoying it for a moment. It didn't help his mood at the time.

"Hey, it's okay, the important thing is you're here now." Catherine briefly touched his arm to get attention, she knew something must have gone on that night or he wouldn't show. Then there was the way he acted towards her afterwards. She was just thankful that it wasn't Muirfield again.

"Yeah. You know, you, uh, you really put yourself out there the last couple of days for Alex and me, especially for someone who isn't one hundred percent well." Vincent commented sincerely in his voice.

"Yeah. Well, you are my doctor?" Catherine smirked at him.

"Look, Catherine um I am so," Vincent wanted to explain the reason he did what he did, but was cut off by her pressing lips firmly together and glaring at him.

"Seriously, what were you thinking?" Catherine said with an upsetting voice as she got up quickly from the couch and stalked away from him. Then stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"I wasn't going to sit back and let anything else happen to you like at your dad's wedding." Vincent told her honestly while getting up from the couch and followed her to the center of the living room. He stood behind her. He wasn't going to let her get herself more injured or worse.

"You have to be more careful." She turned to face him angrily, warning him. He already risked coming to see her at the hospital that day. She knew he was trying to do the right thing, but that right thing got him seen by someone who thought he was dead and then calling the precinct only risked his existence more. He was lucky Muirfield couldn't hack into his burner phone then. She started to complain. "You know if Muirfield had hacked into your burner….."

"I know, okay." Vincent confessed while stepping closer and looking down at her. He wanted to explain the reason he did what he did, but Catherine wouldn't allow it as she butted in. "You've been risking your job for me and now Alex. You were willing to protect me unconditionally, and no one…."

"Okay, I-I I wasn't honest with you before….." Catherine started to cut him off, she took a moment trying to recollect her thoughts and walked to the left side of the couch to think. Tonight was the night she needed to confess to him the strong feelings she had for him since the wedding. Hopefully the feeling was mutual.

"When?" Vincent walked over to where she stood and looked at her with concern. He wasn't sure what she was trying to get at, but understood when she started talking about his ex.

"I can't compete with the life you had with Alex, but...I don't want to give up on us before we've even begun." Catherine took a hold of Vincent's hand and held it in hers.

"Look Catherine, I need to be honest with you." Vincent replied while running his thumb over the back of her hand, caressing it. He looked down at their joining hands, just like he did when they were in the hospital a few days ago. He then brought their hands together up to his cheek where his scar is and began leaning into her hand like he did that first time. Enjoying the softness of her skin against his and continued. "When Alex touched my cheek, I didn't uh, get the same incredible feelings like I got from the first time you did, you know."

"Vincent." Catherine looked up at him with an uncertain look, she wasn't sure what to believe.

Vincent forgot about his ex after saving Catherine in the woods that night. He would find ways to be near her, but not engage with her. Until that day she found him in the warehouse and then everything changed. He wanted to avoid her in the beginning, but when he was around her more his body came alive and now those feelings started up again as she stood near him, just like at her father's wedding. He looked down at her with his lips hovering over hers, still trying to figure out what to say since her father's wedding. He needed to assure her that his ex wasn't important to him anymore by adding with a husky tone. "What I felt for you, it never went away. Never. Not for one second."

"I love you and want to be with you, Vincent.…." Before Catherine could finish what she wanted to tell him, she was cut off by Vincent's lips crashing onto hers, kissing her slowly and softly for a few moments. Then watched him lift his head, looking at her with desire burning in his eyes.

"I am so in love with you." Vincent told her with a husky voice still, bringing up his hand to touch her cheek. He devoured her mouth with his tongue tasting the sweetness inside. He could hear a moan escape her lips as she returned the kiss and then moved his hand farther in the back of her head to deepen it. Wrapped his other arm around her, he pulled her small body closer towards him and felt her hand on his cheek where his scar was. That was sending a tingling sensation throughout his entire body down to his groin. He moved the hand that was around her waist further down to her small round ass caressing it slowly and gave it a small squeeze. He wanted her more than ever now as they continued kissing. He began to guide her towards the bed, but stopped when she started pushing on his chest.

Catherine was startled by Vincent's intimate kiss as she drew his tongue into her mouth, tasting him in return. She couldn't get over how good of a kisser he was as he pressed her against his hard member. Every muscle in her body tensed with expectation, she waited for this moment since the dance and now it was happening to her. She felt him guide their bodies towards the end of the bed, she needed to take a moment to breathe and recollect her thoughts. Was this the right time to be jumping into bed with him. "Wait."

Vincent stopped kissing long enough to lean his forehead against hers, trying to slowly down his breathing and his throbbing member. He didn't want his adrenaline to cause him to be beasting out, not while they were making their move just yet. Like always he can hear the rapid beating of her heart and that usually meant she was either excited or nervous about something. He hoped she was excited just like he was, so asking her with a sigh. "What is your heart doing now?"

"Beating a million miles a minute..." Catherine hesitated taking in much needed air and tried to slow down her pulsating core.

"Mine too….." Vincent's sweet warm breath lingered just above her swollen lips. His one hand was still on her cheek, caressing it softy. He asked. "So where does that leave us?"

"Maybe we should probably take things a little more slowly." Catherine suggested while still trying to calm herself down, she didn't want to make the same mistake she did with the past boyfriends she had and rush into things.

"Totally." Vincent agreed, but it was a little harder to resist with the pounding of her heart and the smell of her arousal overriding his senses right now.

"You know, let things unfold naturally." Catherine suggested breathlessly again, but she knew in her heart she was lying to herself. The thing is, it turns out she couldn't control her heart, it does what it wanted and right now it wanted Vincent.

"Right." Vincent agreed as his lips came closer towards hers again. He knew she had trusted issues, thanks to her previous jerks that she called boyfriends and understood her hesitation. However, he watched as Catherine reached for the bottom of his grey tee shirt and began lifting it slowly.

"I think I-I, we need some time to think…" Catherine was about to finish, but stopped herself from going any further with his shirt and noticed Vincent hesitated. She figured something outside must have got his attention as he began glancing sideways towards the door of the cabin. "Vincent?"

To be continued…...

Author's Note: Sorry it's been taken a while, but it was a challenge for me to come up with a setting to match Vincent and Catherine's first kiss in my version. Please leave a review to let me know how you guys like it.


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